debeak

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *de

Proto-Indo-European *-h₁

Proto-Indo-European *déh₁

Proto-Italic *dē

Latin dē

Latin dē-der.

English de-

English beak

English debeak

From de- + beak.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /diːˈbiːk/
• Rhymes: -iːk

Verb

debeak (third-person singular simple present debeaks, present participle debeaking, simple past and past participle debeaked)

1. (transitive) To remove part of the beak of a chicken or other bird to prevent pecking in chicken farms.
   • 2020, Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, The First Woman, Oneworld Publications, page 344:

     ‘Why not let them out to roam and scratch and peck at insects and worms and see if they come home in the evening and peck each other? Why debeak hens for something you are doing wrong?’

Translations

remove part of a beak

• German: den Schnabel stutzen; den Schnabel kupieren, entschnabeln
• Walloon: sbetchî

Anagrams

• beaked