Library / English Dictionary

CUCKOO

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any of numerous European and North American birds having pointed wings and a long tail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("cuckoo" is a kind of...):

cuculiform bird (birds having zygodactyl feet (except for the touracos))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cuckoo"):

Cuculus canorus; European cuckoo (common cuckoo of Europe having a distinctive two-note call; lays eggs in the nests of other birds)

black-billed cuckoo; Coccyzus erythropthalmus (North American cuckoo; builds a nest and rears its own young)

chaparral cock; Geococcyx californianus; roadrunner (speedy largely terrestrial bird found from California and Mexico to Texas)

ani (black tropical American cuckoo)

coucal (Old World ground-living cuckoo having a long dagger-like hind claw)

Holonyms ("cuckoo" is a member of...):

Cuculidae; family Cuculidae (includes cuckoo; ani; roadrunner)

Derivation:

cuckoo (repeat monotonously, like a cuckoo repeats his call)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A man who is a stupid incompetent fool

Synonyms:

bozo; cuckoo; fathead; goof; goofball; goose; jackass; twat; zany

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("cuckoo" is a kind of...):

fool; muggins; sap; saphead; tomfool (a person who lacks good judgment)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Repeat monotonously, like a cuckoo repeats his call

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "cuckoo" is one way to...):

echo; repeat (to say again or imitate)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

cuckoo (any of numerous European and North American birds having pointed wings and a long tail)

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