as the crow flies
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noun
Idioms 1.
any of several large oscine birds of the genus Corvus, of the family Corvidae, having a long, stout bill, lustrous black plumage, and a wedge-shaped tail, as the common C. brachyrhynchos, of North America.
2.
any of several other birds of the family Corvidae.
3.
any of various similar birds of other families.
4.
( initial capital letter ) Astronomy. the constellation Corvus.
5.
crowbar ( def 1 ).
6.
as the crow flies, in a straight line; by the most direct route: The next town is thirty miles from here, as the crow flies.
7.
eat crow, Informal. to be forced to admit to having made a mistake, as by retracting an emphatic statement; suffer humiliation: His prediction was completely wrong, and he had to eat crow.
8.
have a crow to pick/pluck with someone, Midland and Southern U.S. to have a reason to disagree or argue with someone.
00:10
As the crow flies
is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
| an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle. |
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
Origin:
before 900; Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, crāwa; cognate with Old High German krāwa; akin to Dutch kraai, German Krähe
before 900; Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, crāwa; cognate with Old High German krāwa; akin to Dutch kraai, German Krähe
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To as the crow flies
Collins
World English Dictionary
crow1 (krəʊ) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | See also carrion crow any large gregarious songbird of the genus Corvus, esp C. corone (the carrion crow) of Europe and Asia: family Corvidae. Other species are the raven, rook, and jackdaw and all have a heavy bill, glossy black plumage, and rounded wingsRelated: corvine |
| 2. | any of various other corvine birds, such as the jay, magpie, and nutcracker |
| 3. | any of various similar birds of other families |
| 4. | offensive an old or ugly woman |
| 5. | short for crowbar |
| 6. | as the crow flies as directly as possible |
| 7. | informal (US), (Canadian) eat crow to be forced to do something humiliating |
| 8. | slang (Brit), (Austral) (interjection) stone the crows an expression of surprise, dismay, etc |
| Related: corvine | |
| [Old English crāwa; related to Old Norse krāka, Old High German krāia, Dutch kraai] | |
| crow2 (krəʊ) | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | ( |
| 2. | ( |
| 3. | (esp of babies) to utter cries of pleasure |
| —n | |
| 4. | the act or an instance of crowing |
| [Old English crāwan; related to Old High German krāen, Dutch kraaien] | |
| 'crower2 | |
| —n | |
| 'crowingly2 | |
| —adv | |
| Crow (krəʊ) | |
| —n , Crows, Crow | |
| 1. | a member of a Native American people living in E Montana |
| 2. | the language of this people, belonging to the Siouan family |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
crow
O.E. crawe, imitative of bird's cry. Phrase eat crow is probably based on the notion that the bird is edible when boiled but hardly agreeable; first attested 1851, Amer.Eng., but said to date to War of 1812 (Walter Etecroue turns up 1361 in the Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London). Crow's
foot "wrinkle around the corner of the eye" is late 14c. Phrase as the crow flies first recorded 1800.
Crow
Indian tribe of the American Midwest, the name is a rough translation of their own name, Apsaruke.
crow
O.E. crawian "make a loud noise like a crow;" sense of "exult in triumph" is 1522, perhaps in part because the English crow is a carrion-eater.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
as the crow flies definition
The most direct route between two places: “From here to Gold Bar, it's only ten miles as the crow flies, but twenty miles by the winding mountain road.”
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
as the crow flies
In a straight line, by the shortest route, as in It's only a mile as the crow flies, but about three miles by this mountain road. This idiom is based on the fact that crows, very intelligent birds, fly straight to the nearest food supply. [Late 1700s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Nearby Words
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