crow

See also Crow

English

A bird; a crow: American crow

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /kɹəʊ/, SAMPA: /kr@U/
• (US) enPR: krō, IPA: /kroʊ/, SAMPA: /kroU/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -əʊ

Etymology 1

Middle English crowe, from Old English crāwe, from Proto-Germanic *krāwō (compare West Frisian krie, Dutch kraai, German Krähe), from *krāhanan ‘to crow’. See below.

Noun

crow (plural crows)

1. A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call.
   • 1922, E.R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroborus

     Gaslark in his splendour on the golden stairs saying adieu to those three captains and their matchless armament foredoomed to dogs and crows on Salapanta Hills.

2. A bar of iron with a beak, crook, or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar.
   • 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society 1985, p. 267:

     He approached the humble tomb in which Antonia reposed. He had provided himself with an iron crow and a pick-axe: but this precaution was unnecessary.

3. The cry of the rooster.

Synonyms

• (bar): crowbar
• (cry of a rooster): cock-a-doodle-doo

Derived terms

terms derived from crow (noun)

American crow as the crow flies carrion crow Danish crow eat crow grey crow

hooded crow hoodiecrow Scotch crow stone the crows

Related terms

• crow eater

See also

• murder
• raven

Translations

any bird of the genus Corvus

Afrikaans: kraai Albanian: sorrë (sq) f. Amharic: ቁራ (qura) Ancient Greek: κορώνη (grc) (koróni) f. Arabic: غراب (ar) (ghuraab) m., زاغ (ar) (zaagh) m. Armenian: ագռավ (hy) (agṙav) Basque: bele Belarusian: варона (be) (varona) f. Breton: bran f. Bulgarian: врана (bg) (vrana) f. Burmese: ကျီး (my) (kyi:), ကျီးကန်း (my) (kyi:gan:) Catalan: còrvid m. Cherokee: ᎪᎬ (chr) (gogv) Chichewa: khwangwala (1) Chinese: Mandarin: 烏鴉 (cmn), 乌鸦 (cmn) (wūyā) Choctaw: fạla Croatian: vrana (hr) f. Czech: vrána (cs) f. Danish: krage (da) c. Dutch: kraai (nl) m. Esperanto: korniko (eo) Estonian: vares (et) Faroese: kráka (fo) f. Finnish: varis (fi), varislintu (fi) French: corneille (fr) f. Old French: corbel m. Friulian: çore, corvat piçul, cornile Galician: corvo viaraz m. Georgian: ყვავი (ka) (q‘vavi) German: Krähe (de) f. Greek: κουρούνα (el) (kouroúna) f. Hawaiian: ʻalalā Hebrew: עורב (he) ('orev) m. Hindi: कौआ (hi) (kau'ā) Hopi: angwusi Hungarian: varjú (hu) Icelandic: kráka (is) f. Indonesian: burung gagak (id), gagak (id) Irish: caróg dhubh f. Italian: cornacchia (it) f., corvo (it) Japanese: 烏 (ja), カラス (ja) (karasu) Kannada: ಕಾಗೆ (kaage) Kazakh: қарға (kk) (qarğa) Khmer: ក្អែក Korean: 까마귀 (ko) (kkamagwi) Kurdish: Kurmanji: qirr (ku) f., qirrereşk (ku) f. Sorani: قه‌ل (ku), قه‌له‌ڕه‌ش (ku) Ladin: agacion Latgalian: vuorna f. Latin: corvus (la) m. Latvian: vārna (lv) f.

Lithuanian: varna (lt) f. Low Saxon: Kreih f. Lower Sorbian: karwona, garona Macedonian: врана (vrana) f. Malay: gagak (ms), gauk (ms) Malayalam: കാക്ക (kaakka) Maori: kōkako Marathi: कावळा (mr) Mongolian: хэрээ (kheree) Montagnais: kakatshu Navajo: gáagii Nepali: please add this translation if you can Ngarrindjeri: marangani Norwegian: kråke (no) f. Occitan: gralha f. Old English: crāwe (ang) Persian: کلاغ (fa) (kalâgh) Polish: wrona (pl) f. Portuguese: corvo (pt) m. Romani: korung m. Romanian: cioară (ro) f. Romansch: corv nair (rm) Russian: ворона (ru) (voróna) f. Sami: vuoražas, vuorččis Sardinian: carroga, corrancra, corronca, giacu Scots: craw Scottish Gaelic: starrag f., ròcas m., feannag (gd) f. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic врана (sh) f. Roman vrana (sh) f. Skolt Sami: käärnõs Slovak: vrana (sk) f. Slovene: vrana (sl) f. Spanish: corneja (es) f., cuervo (es) m. Swahili: kunguru (sw) Swedish: kråka (sv) c. Tagalog: uwák (tl) Tamil: காகம் (kāham) Taos: kòki’ína Telugu: కాకి (kaaki) Thai: กา (th) (kaa) Tibetan: ཀ་ཀ (ka-ka) Tocharian B: wrauña f. Turkish: karga (tr) Ukrainian: ворона (uk) (voróna) f., ґава (uk) (gáva, háva), гава (uk) (háva, gáva) f. Upper Sorbian: wróna f. Uyghur: قاغا (ug) Vietnamese: con quạ (vi) Vilamovian: kröw Volapük: (male or female) krov (vo), (male) hikrov (vo), (female) jikrov (vo), (offspring) krovül (vo) Welsh: brân (cy) f. West Frisian: krie c.

bar of iron

Breton: loc'henn (br) f. Bulgarian: кози крак (bg) m. Catalan: corb m. Czech: páčidlo (cs) n., sochor (cs) m. Dutch: koevoet (nl) Finnish: sorkkarauta (fi) French: pied-de-biche (fr) m. German: Brecheisen (de) n.

Greek: [[λοστός#Greek|Template:grek]] (el) (lostós) m. Icelandic: kúbein (is) n. Italian: piede di porco (it) Polish: łom (pl) m. Spanish: palanca (es) Swahili: kunguru (sw) Turkish: kazayağı (tr)

cry of the rooster

Breton: kan m. Bulgarian: кукуригане (bg) n. Czech: kokrhání (cs) n., zakokrhání (cs) n. Dutch: hanengekraai Finnish: kieunta (fi), kiekuminen (fi) French: chant (fr) m. German: Krähen (de) n. Greek: λάλημα (el) (lálima) n.

Icelandic: hanagal (is) n. Polish: pianie (pl) n. Scottish Gaelic: gairm (gd) f. Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic крик (sh) Roman krik (sh) Swahili: kunguru (sw)

Etymology 2

Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan, from Proto-Germanic *krāhanan (compare Dutch kraaien, German krähen), from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂- ‘to caw, croak’ (compare Lithuanian gróti, Russian граять (grájat')). Related to croak.

Verb

crow (third-person singular simple present crows, present participle crowing, simple past crowed or crew (Br. Eng. sense 1 only), past participle crowed)

1. To make the shrill sound characteristic of a rooster; to make a sound in this manner, either in joy, gaiety, or defiance.
   • 1962, Bob Dylan, Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

     When your rooster crows at the break o' dawn

     Look out your windo' and I'll be gone

     You're the reason I'm a travelin' on

     But don't think twice, it's all right.

2. To shout in exultation or defiance; to brag.
3. To utter a sound expressive of joy or pleasure.

Translations

To make the sound of a rooster

Bulgarian: кукуригам (bg) Dutch: kraaien (nl) Finnish: kiekua (fi) German: krähen (de) Greek: λαλώ (el) (laló), κράζω (el) (krázo) Hungarian: kukorékol (hu) Icelandic: gala (is)

Norwegian: gale (no) Polish: piać (pl) Russian: кукарекать (kukarékat’) Scottish Gaelic: gairm (gd) Swahili: kunguru (sw) Swedish: gala (sv)

To shout or brag

Bulgarian: ликувам (bg), тържествувам (bg) Greek: θριαμβολογώ (el) (thriamvologó)

Swahili: kunguru (sw)

To utter a sound of joy

German: jauchzen (de)

Swahili: kunguru (sw)