“vultures” is a form of
vulture
UK /ˈvʌltʃə/ · US /ˈvʌlt͡ʃɚ/ noun, verb, adjective
Forms vultures vulturing vultured
- noun Any of several carrion-eating birds of the families Accipitridae and Cathartidae.
- noun (figurative, colloquial) A person who profits from the suffering of others. “Within ten minutes of the accident, the vultures appeared and were organizing lawsuits.”
- verb (figurative, colloquial) To circle around one's target as if one were a vulture. “Rudy vultured when asking the girl out.”
- adjective (obsolete) ravenous; rapacious
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed into Middle English from Anglo-Norman vultur, from Old French voutoir, voutre, from Latin vultur, voltur. Displaced native Old English ūf.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of numerous species of rapacious birds belonging to Vultur, Cathartes, Catharista, and various other genera of the family Vulturidæ.
Etymology [OE. vultur, L. vultur: cf. OF. voltour, F. vautour.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “vulture”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details