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Cuckoo

 - 6 dictionary results
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cuck⋅oo

  [koo-koo, kook-oo] noun, plural -oos, verb, -ooed, -oo⋅ing, adjective
Use Cuckoo in a Sentence
–noun
1. a common European bird, Cuculus canorus, of the family Cuculidae, noted for its characteristic call and its brood parasitism.
2. any of several other birds of the family Cuculidae.
3. the call of the cuckoo, or an imitation of it.
4. Slang. a crazy, silly, or foolish person; simpleton.
–verb (used without object)
5. to utter the call of the cuckoo or an imitation of it.
–verb (used with object)
6. to repeat monotonously.
–adjective
7. Slang. crazy; silly; foolish.
8. of, pertaining to, or like a cuckoo.
Origin:
1200–50; ME cuc(c)u, cuccuk(e) (imit.); cf. L cucūlus, F coucou, G Kuckuk, D koekoek, ModGk koûko
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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cuck·oo   (kōō'kōō, kŏŏk'ōō)   
n.   pl. cuck·oos

    1. A grayish European bird (Cuculus canorus) that has a characteristic two-note call and lays its eggs in the nests of birds of other species.

    2. Any of various related birds of the family Cuculidae, having grayish-brown plumage and a slender body.

  2. The call or cry of one of these birds.

  3. Slang A foolish or crazy person.

tr.v.   cuck·ooed, cuck·oo·ing, cuck·oos
To repeat incessantly, as a cuckoo does its call.
adj.   Slang
Lacking in sense; foolish or crazy.

[Middle English cuccu, of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
coo-coo

and cuckoo
  1. mod.
    unconscious. : I socked him on the snoot and knocked him coo-coo.
  2. mod.
    insane. : How did I ever get involved in this cuckoo scheme, anyway?
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

cuckoo 
c.1240, from O.Fr. cucu, echoic of the male bird's mating cry (cf. Gk. kokkyx, L. cuculus, Skt. kokilas). Slang sense of "crazy" (adj.) is Amer.Eng. 1918, but noun meaning "stupid person" is first recorded 1581, perhaps from the bird's unvarying, oft-repeated call. The O.E. was geac, cognate with O.N. gaukr, source of Scot. and northern Eng. gowk. The Gmc. words were presumably originally echoic, too, but had drifted in form and were replaced by the Fr. form. Cuckoo clock is from 1789.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Cuckoo

(Heb. shahaph), from a root meaning "to be lean; slender." This bird is mentioned only in Lev. 11:16 and Deut. 14:15 (R.V., "seamew"). Some have interpreted the Hebrew word by "petrel" or "shearwater" (Puffinus cinereus), which is found on the coast of Syria; others think it denotes the "sea-gull" or "seamew." The common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) feeds on reptiles and large insects. It is found in Asia and Africa as well as in Europe. It only passes the winter in Palestine. The Arabs suppose it to utter the cry _Yakub_, and hence they call it _tir el-Yakub_; i.e., "Jacob's bird."

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

cuckoo

see cloud-cuckoo land.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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