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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.
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Cuckoos
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 chattering or flighty, light-headed person. |
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; Middle English cuc(c)u, cuccuk(e) (imitative); compare Latin cucūlus, French coucou, German Kuckuk, Dutch koekoek, Modern Greek koûko
1200–50; Middle English cuc(c)u, cuccuk(e) (imitative); compare Latin cucūlus, French coucou, German Kuckuk, Dutch koekoek, Modern Greek koûko
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
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.
EXPANDgaukr, 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.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary
coo-coo definitionand cuckoo
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Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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