bird

The word “bird” means a warm-blooded egg-laying animal with feathers, wings, and a beak. In plain terms, a feathered flying animal — plus several slang meanings for a woman, an aircraft, or a rude hand gesture.

“Bird” is pronounced BURD (/ˈbɝd/ in IPA).

Here is “bird” used in a sentence: “A bird landed on the windowsill.”

Words with a similar meaning to “bird” include avian, birdie, feathered friend and fowl.

“Bird” is a noun.

The word “bird” comes from Old English. From Old English bridd, originally meaning specifically a young or small bird before broadening to cover birds generally.

“Bird” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the A1 level.

“Bird” has 4 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: a warm-blooded egg-laying animal with feathers, wings, and a beak.

Feathers are the defining feature — no other living animal has them. Birds are also warm-blooded, lay eggs, and have wings, a beak instead of teeth, and lightweight bones. While most can fly, feathers are the one trait shared by every bird and by nothing else alive today.

No. Although wings and flight define birds in most people's minds, several species are flightless. Ostriches, emus, and kiwis run instead, while penguins use their wings to swim. These birds still have feathers and lay eggs, so they remain true birds despite never leaving the ground.

Yes. Scientists widely agree that birds descended from small, feathered theropod dinosaurs, making them the closest living relatives of creatures like Tyrannosaurus rex. In effect, modern birds are living dinosaurs, which is why they share features such as hollow bones and egg-laying with their ancient ancestors.

Birds are grouped into families by shared traits: songbirds such as sparrows and robins, birds of prey like eagles and owls, waterfowl including ducks and swans, seabirds, and flightless birds. There are roughly ten thousand species worldwide, ranging from tiny hummingbirds to towering ostriches.