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View synonyms for beak

beak

[ beek ]

noun

  1. the bill of a bird; neb.
  2. any similar horny mouthpart in other animals, as the turtle or duckbill.
  3. anything beaklike or ending in a point, as the spout of a pitcher.
  4. Slang. a person's nose.
  5. Entomology. proboscis ( def 3 ).
  6. Botany. a narrowed or prolonged tip.
  7. Nautical. (formerly) a metal or metal-sheathed projection from the bow of a warship, used to ram enemy vessels; ram; rostrum.
  8. Typography. a serif on the arm of a character, as of a K.
  9. Also called bird's beak. Architecture. a pendant molding forming a drip, as on the soffit of a cornice.
  10. Chiefly British Slang.
    1. a judge; magistrate.
    2. a schoolmaster.


beak

1

/ biːkt; biːk /

noun

  1. the projecting jaws of a bird, covered with a horny sheath; bill
  2. any beaklike mouthpart in other animals, such as turtles
  3. slang.
    a person's nose, esp one that is large, pointed, or hooked
  4. any projecting part, such as the pouring lip of a bucket
  5. architect the upper surface of a cornice, which slopes out to throw off water
  6. chem the part of a still or retort through which vapour passes to the condenser
  7. See ram
    nautical another word for ram


beak

2

/ biːk /

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Derived Forms

  • ˈbeakless, adjective
  • ˈbeakˌlike, adjective
  • beaked, adjective
  • ˈbeaky, adjective

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Other Words From

  • beaked [beekt, bee, -kid], adjective
  • beakless adjective
  • beaklike adjective
  • beaky adjective
  • under·beak noun

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Word History and Origins

Origin of beak1

1175–1225; Middle English bec < Old French < Latin beccus < Gaulish

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Word History and Origins

Origin of beak1

C13: from Old French bec , from Latin beccus , of Gaulish origin

Origin of beak2

C19: originally thieves' jargon

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Example Sentences

The key part of the costume, beyond the head-to-toe fabric, was the beak.

And a sharp chicken beak is nothing to be trifled with either.

The Duck Dynasty congressman got caught sticking his beak in the wrong place.

Leroy had survived, but had an injured wing and a scuffed beak.

I also like a bird's beak knife, for fiddly decorative things like making radish flowers and skinning apples in one long peel.

Here there was a scuffling sound in the basket, and the Roc rapped on the cover with her hard beak, and cried, "Hush!"

Jehosophat kicked at him with his wet feet, and tried to grab the fat red nose that hung down over the turkey's beak.

A little tar and ashes in his beak was a greater kindness to him than a charge of bird shot.

The peculiarity of their beak consists in the lower mandible being considerably longer than the other into which it shuts.

To prevent the water rushing into its throat as it skims the surface with its beak, the bird is provided with a very small gullet.

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