Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A grayish bird (Cuculus canorus) of Eurasia and Africa that has a characteristic two-note call and lays its eggs in the nests of birds of other species.
  • noun Any of various other birds of the family Cuculidae.
  • noun The call or cry of one of these birds.
  • noun Slang A foolish or crazy person.
  • transitive verb To repeat incessantly, as a cuckoo does its call.
  • adjective Lacking in sense; foolish or crazy.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A bird of the family Cuculidœ, and especially of the subfamily Cuculinœ or genus Cuculus: so called from its characteristic note.
  • noun A simpleton; a fool: used in jest or contempt, like the ultimately related gowk.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A bird belonging to Cuculus, Coccyzus, and several allied genera, of many species.
  • noun a clock so constructed that at the time for striking it gives forth sounds resembling the cry of the cuckoo.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a long-tailed pigeon of the genus Macropygia. Many species inhabit the East Indies.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the European red gurnard (Trigla cuculus). The name probably alludes to the sound that it utters.
  • noun (Zoöl.) any falcon of the genus Baza. The genus inhabits Africa and the East Indies.
  • noun (Zoöl.) the wryneck; -- called also cuckoo mate.
  • noun (Zoöl.) a British ray (Raia miraletus).
  • noun (Zoöl.) A small hemipterous insect, the larva of which, living on grass and the leaves of plants, exudes this secretion. The insects belong to Aphrophora, Helochara, and allied genera.
  • noun the chaparral cock.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Crazy; not sane.
  • noun Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae (from Latin cuculus ("cuckoo")), famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially the common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, that has a characteristic two-note call
  • noun The sound of that particular bird.
  • noun The bird shaped figure found in Swiss/German clocks (cuckoo clocks) or the clock itself.
  • noun Someone found where they shouldn't be (used especially in the phrase 'A cuckoo in the nest'.)
  • noun Someone who is crazy.
  • verb To make the call of a cuckoo
  • verb To repeat something incessantly

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of numerous European and North American birds having pointed wings and a long tail
  • verb repeat monotonously, like a cuckoo repeats his call
  • noun a man who is a stupid incompetent fool

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

(onomatopoeia)

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cuckoo.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Spring and Winter (Part i)

    by William Shakespeare

    WHEN daisies pied and violets blue,

    And lady-smocks all silver-white,

    And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue

    Do paint the meadows with delight,

    The cuckoo then, on every tree,

    Mocks married men; for thus sings he,

    Cuckoo!

    Cuckoo, cuckoo!—O word of fear,

    Unpleasing to a married ear!

    When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,

    And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks,

    When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,

    And maidens bleach their summer smocks

    The cuckoo then, on every tree,

    Mocks married men; for thus sings he,

    Cuckoo!

    Cuckoo, cuckoo!—O word of fear,

    Unpleasing to a married ear!

    September 14, 2009

  • Sumer is icumen in, lhude sing cuccu!

    September 14, 2009