Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A grayish bird (Cuculus canorus) of Eurasia and Africa that has a characteristic two-note call and lays its eggs in the nests of birds of other species.
- noun Any of various other birds of the family Cuculidae.
- noun The call or cry of one of these birds.
- noun Slang A foolish or crazy person.
- transitive verb To repeat incessantly, as a cuckoo does its call.
- adjective Lacking in sense; foolish or crazy.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bird of the family Cuculidœ, and especially of the subfamily Cuculinœ or genus Cuculus: so called from its characteristic note.
- noun A simpleton; a fool: used in jest or contempt, like the ultimately related gowk.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A bird belonging to Cuculus, Coccyzus, and several allied genera, of many species.
- noun a clock so constructed that at the time for striking it gives forth sounds resembling the cry of the cuckoo.
- noun (Zoöl.) a long-tailed pigeon of the genus Macropygia. Many species inhabit the East Indies.
- noun (Zoöl.) the European red gurnard (
Trigla cuculus ). The name probably alludes to the sound that it utters. - noun (Zoöl.) any falcon of the genus Baza. The genus inhabits Africa and the East Indies.
- noun (Zoöl.) the wryneck; -- called also
cuckoo mate . - noun (Zoöl.) a British ray (
Raia miraletus ). - noun (Zoöl.) A small hemipterous insect, the larva of which, living on grass and the leaves of plants, exudes this secretion. The insects belong to Aphrophora, Helochara, and allied genera.
- noun the chaparral cock.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective
Crazy ; notsane . - noun Any of various
birds , of the familyCuculidae (from Latincuculus ("cuckoo")), famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially the common cuckoo,Cuculus canorus , that has a characteristic two-note call - noun The sound of that particular bird.
- noun The bird shaped figure found in Swiss/German clocks (
cuckoo clocks ) or the clock itself. - noun Someone found where they shouldn't be (used especially in the phrase 'A cuckoo in the nest'.)
- noun Someone who is
crazy . - verb To make the call of a cuckoo
- verb To
repeat something incessantly
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun any of numerous European and North American birds having pointed wings and a long tail
- verb repeat monotonously, like a cuckoo repeats his call
- noun a man who is a stupid incompetent fool
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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But cuckoo is a very simple call? it could be that one of the reasons why it is such a simple call is precisely because of the phenomenon they describe.
David Attenborough: 'I have been in a vehicle that was charged by a rhinoceros, and that was tiresome' Kate Kellaway 2010
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“The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she sings as she flies, she brings us good tidings and she tells us no lies” went the song, and Michael recalled that Mary Bright had sounded much sweeter than any bird when she sang that song.
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Some of his inventions are based on the technology used in cuckoo clocks, mechanical toys, piano rolls, and player pianos.
George Heymont: There's Art Right At Your Fingertips! George Heymont 2010
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Some of his inventions are based on the technology used in cuckoo clocks, mechanical toys, piano rolls, and player pianos.
George Heymont: There's Art Right At Your Fingertips! George Heymont 2010
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Some of his inventions are based on the technology used in cuckoo clocks, mechanical toys, piano rolls, and player pianos.
George Heymont: There's Art Right at Your Fingertips! George Heymont 2010
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Known only by a handful of specimens collected over the past century, the Sumatran ground cuckoo is considered to be one of the worlds rarest, most secretive birds, and is restricted to Sumatras deep jungles and rainforests.
Archive 2007-02-01 2007
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Southern Slavs the cuckoo is supposed to be the sister of a murdered man ever calling or vengeance.
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The cuckoo is not to be seen on the furze; the leaves are withering and the trees complaining of the cold.
The Kiltartan Poetry Book: Prose Translations from the Irish 1919
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The cuckoo is not asleep, the thrush is not asleep, the tops of the trees are a noisy place; the duck is not asleep, she is made ready for good swimming; the bog-lark is not asleep to-night on the high stormy bogs; the sound of her clear voice is sweet; she is not sleeping between the streams.
The Kiltartan Poetry Book: Prose Translations from the Irish 1919
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We use consonants where the bird uses none, as when we give the name cuckoo to a bird whose cry is really "ooh, ooh."
The Patient Observer And His Friends Simeon Strunsky 1913
sionnach commented on the word cuckoo
Spring and Winter (Part i)
by William Shakespeare
WHEN daisies pied and violets blue,
And lady-smocks all silver-white,
And cuckoo-buds of yellow hue
Do paint the meadows with delight,
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!—O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!
When shepherds pipe on oaten straws,
And merry larks are ploughmen's clocks,
When turtles tread, and rooks, and daws,
And maidens bleach their summer smocks
The cuckoo then, on every tree,
Mocks married men; for thus sings he,
Cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo!—O word of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear!
September 14, 2009
milosrdenstvi commented on the word cuckoo
Sumer is icumen in, lhude sing cuccu!
September 14, 2009