cuckoo
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From Middle English cokkou, probably from Old French cucu (whence French coucou); ultimately onomatopoeic, perhaps via Latin cuculus (“cuckoo”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
cuckoo (plural cuckoos)
- Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae, 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.
- 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V Scene 1
- He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo, / By the bad voice.
- 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V Scene 1
- The sound of that particular bird.
- The bird-shaped figure found in cuckoo clocks.
- The cuckoo clock itself.
- Someone found where they shouldn't be (used especially in the phrase a cuckoo in the nest).
- (slang) Someone who is crazy.
Related termsEdit
- cuckoo clock
- cuckoo-dove
- cuckoo-pint (“Arum italicum”)
- cuckoo shrike
- cuckoo's egg
- cloud-cuckoo-land
- cuculine (rare)
- cuckoo sign
TranslationsEdit
the bird
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the sound
someone crazy
VerbEdit
cuckoo (third-person singular simple present cuckoos, present participle cuckooing, simple past and past participle cuckooed)
- To make the call of a cuckoo.
- To repeat something incessantly. (Can we add an example for this sense?)
TranslationsEdit
to make the call of a cuckoo
to repeat something incessantly
AdjectiveEdit
cuckoo (comparative more cuckoo, superlative most cuckoo)