chough

[ chuhf ]

noun
  1. any of several crowlike Old World birds, especially Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, of Europe.

Origin of chough

1
1275–1325; Middle English choghe; akin to Old English cēo,Dutch kauw,Danish kaa

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use chough in a sentence

  • The only birds seen were choughs and ravens; ring-ouzels lower down.

    Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman
  • These cliffs are also tenanted by ravens and a single pair of choughs.

    Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman
  • This may be seen in daws, choughs, pipits, and many other species.

    Birds and Man | W. H. Hudson
  • The Choughs Inn at the west end of the town, not far from the church, is another fine example of late medieval architecture.

    Wanderings in Wessex | Edric Holmes
  • Then all Cornwall was ransacked for choughs, to see whether he was "russet-pated."

    Cornish Saints and Sinners | J. Henry Harris

British Dictionary definitions for chough

chough

/ (tʃʌf) /


noun
  1. a large black passerine bird, Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax, of parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, with a long downward-curving red bill: family Corvidae (crows)

  2. alpine chough a smaller related bird, Pyrrhocorax graculus, with a shorter yellow bill

Origin of chough

1
C14: of uncertain origin; probably related to Old French cauwe, Old English cēo

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012