crow

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The case of the crow, however, is less striking than that of the two hawks; because the crow is a cosmopolitan bird, and if every specimen in the British Isles were destroyed to-day, there would be an influx from abroad in a very short time.

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Definitions (68)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (8)

  1. noun Any of several large glossy black birds of the genus Corvus, having a characteristic raucous call, especially C. brachyrhynchos of North America.
  2. noun A crowbar.
  3. idiom as the crow flies In a straight line.

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Examples (50)

  • It came from the tree where the others had been sitting, or at least from that direction To the Indian the crow is a bird of ill omen. —  The Delight Makers
  • But the crow is a keen observer, and has not the least necessity to search for the nest He merely keeps a watch on the motions of the old birds of the place, and knows at once by their flight being so continually directed to one spot that there their treasure lies. —  Nature Near London
  • "Ziz horze ov yourz eez what you call a crow-zcare! —  The Redemption of David Corson
  • And now if you lost him you had only to look up to the ridge of the roof, or perhaps on to the chimney stack, which he called his crow's nest, and there you found him, spying through his father's telescope and crying out Look-out ahead! —  The Woman Thou Gavest Me Being the Story of Mary O'Neill
  • They presumed that the crow was a pet and let it come to the abbey with them Let it in!" —  Scorched Earth
 

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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

officer ·  team ·  troop ·  crew ·  pilot ·  ship ·  dog ·  personnel ·  guard ·  passenger ·  crowd ·  equipment

Used in the same contextWord Family

crow:   crew ·  crows ·  crowed ·  crowing
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (5)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English croue, from Old English crāwe; see gerə-2 in Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from the resemblance of its forked end to a crow's foot or beak.
  2. Middle English crouen, from Old English crāwan; see gerə-2 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (3)

  1. = Scots craw, from Middle English crowen, crawen (preterit crew, crewe, past participle crowen, crowe), from Anglo-Saxon crāwan (strong verb, preterit créow, past participle *cráwen) = (weak verb) D. kraaijen = Low German kreien = Old High German chrájan, Middle High German kræjen, German krähen, crow, as a cock. Hence Anglo-Saxon *crēd (= Middle Low German krat), in comp. hancrēd = Old Saxon hanocrād = Old High German hanachrāt, Middle High German hanekrāt, cock-crow (hana, cock). Orig. used in a general sense, including the croaking of the crow (see crow), the cry of the crane, etc.; prob. imitative, like croak, crake, etc.
  2. from crow, v.
  3. from Middle English crow, craw, crowe, crawe, from Anglo-Saxon crāwe = Old Saxon krāia = Dutch kraai = Middle Low German krā, krāge = Old High German chrāja, chrāwa, chrāa, chrā, Middle High German krā, kræje, German krähe, a crow, a raven; from the verb, Anglo-Saxon crāwan, etc., crow (orig. in a general sense). Cf. English dial. crake, a crow, Icelandic krāka, a crow: see crake, croak, etc.
 

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/kroʊ/
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