beak
/biːk/ noun, verb
Forms beaks beaking beaked beck
- noun A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc.
- noun A similar pointed structure forming the nose and mouth of various animals, such as turtles, platypuses, whales, etc.
- noun The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.
- noun The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve.
- noun The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.
- noun (botany) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.
- noun Anything projecting or ending in a point like a beak, such as a promontory of land.
- noun (architecture) A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.
- verb (transitive) To strike with the beak.
- verb (transitive) To seize with the beak.
- verb (intransitive, Northern Ireland) To play truant.
- noun (slang, UK) A justice of the peace; a magistrate.
- noun (slang, British public schools) A schoolmaster (originally, at Eton).
Synonyms
bill neb nib pecker beakhead honker schnozzle bob bug out bump off bunk bunk off cut class dip ditch dob dog go on the hop go on the lang go on the mitch hooter nozzle snoot snout schnoz peck pick
Etymology
From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).
Unknown; originally cant; first recorded in 17thC; probably related to obsolete cant beck "constable".
Webster’s 1913
- noun 1. (Zoöl.) (a) The bill or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny sheath, covering the jaws. The form varied much according to the food and habits of the bird, and is largely used in the classification of birds. (b) A similar bill in other animals, as the turtles. (c) The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects, and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera. (d) The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve. (e) The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.
- noun Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land. Carew.
Etymology [OE. bek, F. bec, fr. Celtic; cf. Gael. & Ir. bac, bacc, hook, W. bach.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “beak”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details