Bird \Bird\ (b[~e]rd), n. [OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird,
bird, AS. bridd young bird. [root]92.]
1. Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a
nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2).
That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird. --Shak.
The brydds [birds] of the aier have nestes.
--Tyndale
(Matt. viii.
20).
2. (Zo["o]l.) A warm-blooded, feathered vertebrate provided
with wings. See Aves.
3. Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird.
4. Fig.: A girl; a maiden.
And by my word! the bonny bird In danger shall not
tarry. --Campbell.
Arabian bird, the phenix.
Bird of Jove, the eagle.
Bird of Juno, the peacock.
Bird louse (Zo["o]l.), a wingless insect of the group
Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very
numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. -- Bird mite
(Zo["o]l.), a small mite (genera Dermanyssus,
Dermaleichus and allies) parasitic upon birds. The
species are numerous.
Bird of passage, a migratory bird.
Bird spider (Zo["o]l.), a very large South American spider
(Mygale avicularia). It is said sometimes to capture and
kill small birds.
Bird tick (Zo["o]l.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon
birds (genus Ornithomyia, and allies), usually winged.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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