Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of various birds of the widely distributed family Columbidae, characteristically having plump bodies, small heads, and short legs, especially the rock dove or any of its domesticated varieties.
- n. Slang One who is easily swindled; a dupe.
- n. An object of special concern; an affair or matter.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Any bird of the family Columbidæ (which see for technical characters); a dove. ; . The species are several hundred in number, and are found in nearly all parts of the world. Many kinds are distinguished by qualifying terms, as fruit-pigeon, ground-pigeon, passenger-pigeon, nutmeg-pigeon, rock-pigeon, and any of them may be called
dove , as stock-dove, rock-dove, ring-dove, turtle-dove, wood-dove. (See the compound names, and dove.) Few species are commonly seen in confinement, except in very extensive aviaries, one of the commonest being the ring-dove; but the rock-pigeon or rock-dove, Columba livia, is everywhere thoroughly domesticated, and perhaps all the artificial varieties have been produced by careful breeding from this one. Fancy pigeons have naturally received many fanciful names of their breeds, strains, and endless color-variations. Some of these names are - n. A simpleton to be swindled; a gull: opposed to rook. See stool-pigeon.
- n. A toy consisting of a light propeller-wheel, which, on being made to revolve rapidly by means of a string wound about a shaft on which it rests, rises in the air in a short flight.
- To pluck; fleece; strip of money by the tricks of gambling.
Wiktionary
- n. One of several birds of the family Columbidae.
- n. A person who is a target or victim of a confidence game.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. Any bird of the order Columbæ, of which numerous species occur in nearly all parts of the world.
- n. An unsuspected victim of sharpers; a gull.
- v. To pluck; to fleece; to swindle by tricks in gambling.
WordNet 3.0
- n. wild and domesticated birds having a heavy body and short legs
Etymologies
- Middle English, from Old French pijon, probably from Vulgar Latin *pībiō, pībiōn-, alteration of Late Latin pīpiō, young chirping bird, squab, from pīpīre, to chirp.Alteration of pidgin.
Examples
“The pulses race with "Report of cat trapped at address in Tameside", only to deflate with the note that the stool-pigeon is a regular nuisance caller.”
“The problem with eating pigeon is what they are made up of - you must know what they eat??!!”
“If the animal, say a pigeon is slaughtered in a humane way for a purpose then hey ho.”
“RUCerious, desert pigeon is a member in fine standing with the 101st chairborne.”
“Now a one-footed pigeon is riding in my tube carriage.”
“Despite being told that the passenger pigeon is extinct, Fibber claims he sees one every day.”
“The story of the passenger pigeon is not yet over.”
“This last came by carrier pigeon from the Fuhrer Bunker.”
“Hi Pille, thank you, Im glad you like them, this pigeon is certainly getting his due!”
“He won the House of Commons steeplechase and founded the most celebrated bloodstock line in pigeon racing.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pigeon’.
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You animal!
Names of animals that are also used to describe kinds of people. Nouns only, preferably single word.
For a related list, see sionnach's beastly verbs.rabbit, shark, hog, pussycat, bear, bull, skunk, hawk, wildcat, buck, slug, heifer and 112 more...
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The Pain of Texting
Words that are a pain in the ass to type in on a numerical keypad on a cell phone because they have consecutive letters that share the same button:
2 - ABC
3 - DEF
4 - GHI...defcon, hi, no, attitude, xylophone, on, monday, monkey, mono, dig, back, babble and 212 more...
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Nature and Environment
north, east, west, mountain, sea, beach, river, northeast, northwest, southeast, southwest, island and 205 more...
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Everything's better with a pig in it
So get your keech spread and let's grill.
trudgepig, humblepig, pigsney, piggy pox, pigment, hedgepiglet, higgledy piggledy, piggley winks, athlete's pig foot, pigmy, pigeon, piggy bank and 69 more...
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animals (2 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 2 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious like 'dragon') are we...
baboon, rabbit, raptor, dragon, camel, hornet, llama, cobra, cheetah, penguin, puppy, dolphin and 85 more...
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Meats: For All the Carnivores out There
Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!
Just kidding. Kind of.yak, wood pigeon, wild turkey, wild boar, venison, veal, turtle, turkey, squirrel, squab, snail, rattlesnake and 51 more...
sionnach PIGEONS
David Hernandez (1991)
Pigeons are the spiks of Birdland.
They are survivors of blood, fire and stone.
They can’t afford to fly south
or a Florida winter home.
Most everybody passing up a pigeon pack
tries to break it up because they move funny
and seem to be dancing like young street thugs
with an 18-foot, 10-speaker Sanyo book box radio
on a 2-foot red shoulder strap.
Pigeons have feathers of a different color.
They are too bright to be dull
and too dull to be bright
so they are not accepted anywhere.
Nobody wants to give pigeons a job.
Parakeets, canaries and parrots
have the market sown up as far as that goes.
They live in fancy cages, get 3 meals a day
for a song and dance routine.
When was the last time you saw a pigeon
in someone’s home?
Unless they bleached their feathers white
and try to pass off as doves,
you will never see pet pigeons.
Besides, their accents give them away
when they start cooing.
Once in a while, some creatures will treat them decent.
They are known as pigeon ladies, renegades,
or bleeding-heart Liberals.
What they do is build these wooden cages
on rooftops that look like huge
pigeon housing projects
where they freeze during the winters
and get their little claws stuck in tar
on hot summer days
No wonder they are pigeon-toed.
I tell you,
Pigeons are the spiks of Birdland.
There is a specific indentation pattern to the original poem that is lost here, but can be seen at this website (unfortunately at the price of a background pattern that makes reading particularly hard, for me at any rate)
Pigeons Mar 14, 2009