Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A large North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that has brownish plumage and a bare wattled head and neck and is widely domesticated for food.
- n. A related bird (Agriocharis ocellata) of Mexico and Central America, brilliantly colored and having eyelike spots on its tail.
- n. Slang A person considered inept or undesirable.
- n. Slang A failure, especially a failed theatrical production or movie.
- n. Sports Three consecutive strikes in bowling.
- idiom. talk turkey Informal To speak frankly and get down to the basic facts of a matter.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A bag containing a lumber-jack's outfit.
- n. An American gallinaceous bird of the genus Meleagris; any species of Meleagridæ. See the technical names. Turkeys are of two totally distinct species: one of these has two varieties, both widely known and with a long intricate history; the other species is practically unknown, except in ornithology.
- n. The second species of Meleagris is M. ocellata, the ocellated turkey of Honduras and some other parts of Central America. This is much smaller and more beautiful than the other; the plumage is intensely lustrous, and in part eyed with iridescent ocelli, recalling those of the peacock; the bare head is deep-blue, studded with caruncles of an orange color, and no dewlap is developed.
- n. With qualifying term, one of several different Australian birds which resemble or suggest the turkey. See phrases below.
Wiktionary
- n. Either of two species of bird in the genus Meleagris with fan-shaped tails and wattled necks.
- n. colloquial A failure.
- n. slang A foolish or inept person.
- n. bowling An act of throwing three strikes in a row.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Any large American gallinaceous bird belonging to the genus Meleagris, especially the North American wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and the domestic turkey, which was probably derived from the Mexican wild turkey, but had been domesticated by the Indians long before the discovery of America.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual
- n. large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
- n. a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923
- n. flesh of large domesticated fowl usually roasted
- n. a person who does something thoughtless or annoying
Etymologies
- From Turkey. The guinea fowl (Numida meleagris), native to Africa, was imported to Europe by turkey merchants. The larger northern American bird Meleagris gallopavo, thought to resemble the guinea fowl, was brought to Spain by conquistadors in 1523; from there it was introduced to northern Africa, at the time under Ottoman rule, and then via the Middle East back into Europe. (Wiktionary)
- After Turkey from a confusion with the guinea fowl, once believed to have originated in Turkish territory. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“- TURKEY HUNT PREVIEW When Thomas Washburn, 14, of Woodbury, heads into the turkey woods in about a week, he'll try to accomplish something on his first hunt that his grandfather, Reinhard Riessen, a veteran of many hunts near Mankato, has never done: bag a gobbler.”
“But what Schider's memories of Thanksgivings in New York suggest is that "Turkey Day" for vegans and vegetarians is about everything but the turkey.”
Addison County Independent - Covering the 23 towns of Addison County, Vermont
“3 Responses to "How to Make Turkey Edible" just deep fry the turkey.”
“An before someone also points out he has offspringincluding the dead one he keeps using for the sympathy vote from mad women in Essex, the term turkey baster springs forth...”
“Thus, when Europeans encountered the bird in the New World, the word turkey was a lot easier to remember and to pronounce than the Aztec word, huexoloti.”
“But most often in modern day Mexico, a turkey is the main attraction, no matter what regional dishes accompany it.”
“Keep in mind the arrow kill zone on a turkey is about the size of your fist.”
“The design was what we call a turkey tail, and the thing was polished to a shine.”
“I'm with 007 --- if rifle shooting a turkey is your thing, go for it.”
“He liked the T-shirt to sit high, because he was self-conscious about what he called his turkey neck.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘turkey’.
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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food collection
bread, peel, pot, chorizo, Filet, olive, fill, Phyllo, dough, bake, mat, pinot and 988 more...
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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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Situation Normal
inspired by Mistakes Were Made. Words for things going wrong in a manner particularly violent, stupid, soul-crushing, boggling, grandiose, or any combination of these qualities.
fuckup, snafu, fiasco, abortion, miscarriage, implosion, contretemps, imbroglio, brouhaha, melee, kerfuffle, mayhem and 156 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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Capitonyms or capitonyms
Capitonyms are, properly, words which change meaning and sound when they change case. This particular list may also erringly include words which change meaning, but not sound. These are improper. S...
Turkey, turkey, China, china, August, august, Bill, bill, Catholic, catholic, Ionic, ionic and 94 more...
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See Phrases Under
Being a list of words with definitions which have the phrase "see phrases under" in them. I will also accept words with definitions which have the phrase "see phrases below."
see phrases under, cubit, hood, palm, brethren, sulcus, zone, trochlearis, sacrovertebral, turkey, geography, See Phrases Under and 2 more...
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Animals
pig, camel, ant, ape, donkey, badger, bat, beaver, bee, cat, dog, cow and 82 more...
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That Could Have Gone Better
dud, flop, fiasco, debacle, failure, learning experience, wash, doa, epic fail, bomb, crash and burn, bungle and 41 more...
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Siamese-Twin Words
Idea from Will Shortz's NPR puzzle feature. Two words that share a common letter (end of first word and start of second word) and forming a larger word, e.g., mill and lion = mil-l-ion. Variants ...
cordial, portable, trillion, retort, preposition, palace, domesticity, passage, shallow, electorate, bootstrap, turkey and 9 more...
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Gobble
Dishes that are absolutely essential to my favorite holiday. And some musical instructions on how to make them (in the comments section).
turkey, cranberry sauce (..., mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes wi..., candied yams, parker house rolls, stuffing, gravy, whole cranberry s..., pumpkin pie, ambrosia salad, a lonely Thanksgi... and 2 more...
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Main Courses
fried liver, steak, fillet of beef, veal cutlets, saute meat, grilled meatballs, mixed grills, roast meat, lamb chops, macaroni, ravioli, rice pilaff and 7 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 87 more...
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Scrabble Countries
Country names which happen to be acceptable for play during a game of Scrabble.
china, japan, zaire, morocco, chile, brazil, chad, bolivia, cyprus, turkey, panama, jordan and 2 more...
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Talkin' Turkey
Big-tent list of all things turkey, from the name of the country to colloquial phrases containing the term turkey. Anything turkey-related is welcome.
turkey bacon, turkey and stuffing, Turkey, Naragansett, turkey tower, USS Turkey, turkey moray, tofurky, cold turkey, box office bomb, Turkey, NC, tom turkey and 37 more...
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Luncheon meats
Because I couldn't help myself. See luncheon.
olive loaf, baloney, salami, ham, roast beef, prosciutto, pimiento loaf, summer sausage, cotto salami, silver star’s blu..., spam, cheese loaf and 18 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for turkey.

hernesheir bubblyjock, polliecock. May 10, 2011
tonytam Yummmmmmmmmmyyyyyy Nov 27, 2009
Jubjub You turkey! Nov 26, 2009