crow
English[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /kɹəʊ/
- (US) enPR: krō, IPA(key): /kɹoʊ/
Audio (US) (file) - Rhymes: -əʊ
Etymology 1[edit]
From Middle English crowe, from Old English crāwe, from Proto-West Germanic *krāā, from Proto-Germanic *krēǭ (compare West Frisian krie, Dutch kraai, German Krähe), from *krēaną (“to crow”). See below.
Noun[edit]
crow (plural crows)
- 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.
- Any of various dark-coloured nymphalid butterflies of the genus Euploea.
- A bar of iron with a beak, crook or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar.
- Synonym: crowbar
- 1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 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.
- 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt, Olympia Press:
- Watt might have broken the door down, with an axe, or a crow, or a small charge of explosive, but this might have aroused Erskine's suspicions, and Watt did not want that.
- (historical) A gangplank (corvus) used by the Ancient Roman navy to board enemy ships.
- (among butchers) The mesentery of an animal.
- (derogatory) An ill-tempered and obstinate woman, or one who otherwise has features resembling the bird; a harpy.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:shrew
- 1899, George Horton, A Fair Brigand[1], H.S. Stone, page 242:
- But it helps a man along to have a wife he can be proud of. Suppose you marry some old crow. People point at her and ask, 'Who is that death's head yonder?'
- 1970, Paul J. Smith, 0:13 from the start, in Woody Woodpecker: "Seal on the Loose", spoken by Woody Woodpecker (Grace Stafford):
- (Mrs. Meany to Woody, from a window) "I don't care! I'm not running a pet shop."
"Well it looks like one with an old crow in the window!"
- (ethnic slur, offensive, slang) A black person.
- (military, slang) The emblem of an eagle, a sign of military rank.
- 2002, Ed Goodrich, Riggers that Dive, page 46:
- A young petty officer that must have just received his “crow” (a single chevron, with an eagle over it) was showing off to several seamen.
- 2003, Jonathan T. Malay, Seraphim Sky, page 106:
- The young man had been threatened with loss of his third class rank, his “crow,” the eagle in a petty officer's sleeve insignia.
Derived terms[edit]
- American crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)
- as the crow flies
- Australian crow (Corvus orru)
- Banggai crow (Corvus unicolor)
- bare-faced crow (Corvus tristis)
- Bismarck crow (Corvus insularis)
- black crow (Corvus capensis)
- Bougainville crow (Corvus meeki)
- brown-headed crow (Corvus fuscicapillus)
- Cape crow (Corvus capensis)
- carrion crow (Corvus corone)
- cockcrow
- collared crow (Corvus torquatus)
- crowdom
- croweater
- crow's foot ("facial wrinkle")
- crow-line
- crow pheasant
- crow scarer
- crow to pick
- crow to pluck
- crow to pull
- crow-silk
- crow-tit
- crow-trodden
- Cuban crow (Corvus nasicus)
- Danish crow (Corvus cornix)
- dun crow
- eat boiled crow
- eat crow
- Eurasian crow (Corvus corone)
- fish crow (Corvus ossifragus)
- Flores crow (Corvus florensis)
- gallicrow
- grey crow (Corvus tristis)
- Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis, Corvus tropicus)
- high-billed crow (†Corvus impluviatus)
- holy crow
- hooded crow (Corvus cornix)
- hoodiecrow (Corvus cornix)
- house crow (Corvus splendens)
- Jamaican crow (Corvus jamaicensis)
- John crow
- jungle crow (Corvus macrorhynchos)
- king crow
- large-billed crow (Corvus macrorhynchos macrorhynchus)
- little crow (Corvus bennetti)
- long-billed crow (Corvus validus)
- Mariana crow (Corvus kubaryi)
- Mesopotamian crow (Corvus cornix capellanus)
- New Caledonian crow (Corvus moneduloides)
- †New Ireland crow
- northwestern crow (Corvus caurinus)
- Pagenstecher's crow
- palm crow (Corvus palmarum)
- pied crow (Corvus albus)
- piping crow (Corvus typicus)
- Puerto Rican crow (Corvus pumilis)
- rain crow
- robust crow (Corvus viriosus)
- Royston crow
- Salomon Islands crow (Corvus meeki, Corvus woodfordi)
- scald-crow
- Scotch crow (Corvus cornix)
- sea crow
- Sinaloan crow (Corvus sinaloae)
- slender-billed crow (Corvus enca)
- small brown crow (Euploea darchia) (butterfly)
- Somali crow (Corvus edithae)
- stone the crows
- Tamaulipas crow (Corvus imparatus)
- Torresian crow (Corvus orru)
- violaceous crow (Corvus enca violaceus)
- water crow
- white-billed crow (Corvus woodfordi)
- white-necked crow (Corvus leucognaphalus)
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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See also[edit]
- caw
- murder of crows (“flock of crows”)
- raven
Further reading[edit]
Corvus (boarding device) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 2[edit]
The verb is from Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan (past tense crēow, past participle crāwen), from Proto-West Germanic *krāan, from Proto-Germanic *krēaną, from imitative Proto-Indo-European *gerH- (“to cry hoarsely”).[1]
The noun is from Middle English crowe, from the verb.[2][3]
Compare Dutch kraaien, German krähen, Lithuanian gróti, Russian гра́ять (grájatʹ)). Related to croak.
Verb[edit]
crow (third-person singular simple present crows, present participle crowing, simple past crowed or (UK) crew, past participle crowed or (archaic) crown)
- (intransitive) To make the shrill sound characteristic of a rooster; to make a sound in this manner, either in gaiety, joy, pleasure, or defiance.
- c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shake-speare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (First Quarto), London: […] [Valentine Simmes] for N[icholas] L[ing] and Iohn Trundell, published 1603, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
- Yet once me thought it [the ghost of Hamlet's father] was about to ſpeake, / And lifted vp his head to motion, / Like as he would ſpeake, but euen the / The morning cocke crew lowd, and in all haſte / It ſhrunke in haſte away, and vaniſhed / Our ſight.
- 1784, The House that Jack Built, page 8:
- This is the Cock that crowed in the Morn[.]
- 1847, Alfred Tennyson, “Part II”, in The Princess: A Medley, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 37:
- 'You are that Psyche' Cyril said again / 'The mother of the sweetest little maid, / That ever crow'd for kisses.'
- 1869 May, Anthony Trollope, “Lady Milborough as Ambassador”, in He Knew He Was Right, volume I, London: Strahan and Company, […], →OCLC, page 87:
- 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter III, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC, part I, page 48:
- Hearing the miner's footsteps, the baby would put up his arms and crow.
- 1962, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”, in The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan:
- When your rooster crows at the break o' dawn / Look out your window and I'll be gone.
- (intransitive) To shout in exultation or defiance; to brag.
- He’s been crowing all day about winning the game of cards.
- 2017 September 27, Julianne Tveten, “Zucktown, USA”, in The Baffler[2]:
- Touting its sponsorship of local engineering and sustainability programs, Amazon crows about such “investments” as its dog park, playing fields, art installations, and Buckyball-reminiscent domical gardens.
- (intransitive, music) To test the reed of a double reed instrument by placing the reed alone in the mouth and blowing it.
Usage notes[edit]
The past tense crew in modern usage is confined to literary and metaphorical uses, usually with reference to the story of Peter in Luke 22.60. The past participle crown is similarly poetical.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Noun[edit]
crow (plural crows)
- The cry of the bird known in the US as a rooster and in British English as a cockerel.
- Synonym: cock-a-doodle-doo
References[edit]
- ^ “crow”, in The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th edition, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2016, →ISBN.
- ^ James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Crow (krōu), sb.2”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume II (C), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 1206, column 3: “f. Crow v.”
- ^ “crou, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007: “From crouen .”
Further reading[edit]
Anagrams[edit]
Middle English[edit]
Noun[edit]
crow
- Alternative form of crowe
- English 1-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/əʊ
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