jay

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The letter j.
2. n. Any of various often crested birds of the genera Garrulus, Cyanocitta, Aphelocoma, and related genera within the family Corvidae, often having a loud, harsh call. Also called jaybird.
3. n. An overly talkative person; a chatterbox.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The name of the letter j. It is rarely written out, the symbol j being used instead.
2. n. Any bird of the subfamily Garrulinæ; specifically, Garrulus glandarius, a common European bird, about 13 inches long, of a gray color tinged with reddish, varied with black, white, and blue, and having the head crested. The jays are birds usually of bright and varied colors, among which blue is the most conspicuous, thus contrasting with the somber crows, their nearest allies. The tail is comparatively long, sometimes extremely so, as in the magpie. They are noisy, restless birds, of arboreal habits, found in most parts of the world, reaching their highest development in the warmer parts of America, where some large and magnificent species are found. With the exception of the boreal genus Perisoreus, the jays of the old and the new world belong to entirely different genera. The commonest and best known jay of the United States is the blue jay, Cyanurus cristatus or Cytnocitta cristata, a bird about 12 inches long, with a fine crest, purplish-blue color on the back and purplish-gray below, a black collar, and wings and tail rich blue varied with black and white. (See cut under Cyanocitta.) Another crested species of the United Slates is Steller's jay, C. stelleri, resembling the last, but much darker in color, and confined to the west. The Canada jay or whiskyjack, Perisoreus canadensis, is a plain grayish bird. The Florida jay, Aphelocoma floridana, is mostly gray and blue. The Rio Grande jay, Xanthura luxuosa, is rich yellow, green, blue, and black. Some birds not properly belonging to the Garrulinæ are also called jays, and some members of this subfamily have other common names, as the magpies.
3. n. A loud, flashy woman.
4. n. In actors' slang, an amateur or a poor actor.
5. n. A general term of contempt applied to a stupid person: as, an audience at jays.
6. n. In angling, a variety of artificial fly dressed with blue jay feathers.

Wiktionary

1. n. The name of the Latin script letter J/j.
2. n. Any one of the numerous species of birds belonging to several genera within the family Corvidae, including Garrulus, Cyanocitta, allied to the crows, but smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely colored, usually having a crest, and often noisy.
3. n. Other birds of similar appearance and behavior.
4. n. archaic A dull or ignorant person. It survives today in the term jaywalking.
5. n. slang A marijuana cigarette; a joint.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) Any one of the numerous species of birds belonging to Garrulus, Cyanocitta, and allied genera of the family Corvidae. They are allied to the crows, but are smaller, more graceful in form, often handsomely colored, and usually have a crest.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. United States diplomat and jurist who negotiated peace treaties with Britain and served as the first chief justice of the United States Supreme Court (1745-1829)
2. n. crested largely blue bird