from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Bird \Bird\ (b[~e]rd), n. [OE. brid, bred, bird, young bird,
bird, AS. bridd young bird. [root]92.]
1. Orig., a chicken; the young of a fowl; a young eaglet; a
nestling; and hence, a feathered flying animal (see 2).
[1913 Webster]
That ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird. --Shak.
[1913 Webster]
The brydds [birds] of the aier have nestes.
--Tyndale
(Matt. viii.
20).
[1913 Webster]
2. (Zool.) A warm-blooded, feathered vertebrate provided with
wings. See {Aves}.
[1913 Webster]
3. Specifically, among sportsmen, a game bird.
[1913 Webster]
4. Fig.: A girl; a maiden.
[1913 Webster]
And by my word! the bonny bird
In danger shall not tarry. --Campbell.
[1913 Webster]
{Arabian bird}, the phenix.
{Bird of Jove}, the eagle.
{Bird of Juno}, the peacock.
{Bird louse} (Zool.), a wingless insect of the group
Mallophaga, of which the genera and species are very
numerous and mostly parasitic upon birds. -- Bird mite
(Zool.), a small mite (genera {Dermanyssus},
{Dermaleichus} and allies) parasitic upon birds. The
species are numerous.
{Bird of passage}, a migratory bird.
{Bird spider} (Zool.), a very large South American spider
({Mygale avicularia}). It is said sometimes to capture and
kill small birds.
{Bird tick} (Zool.), a dipterous insect parasitic upon birds
(genus {Ornithomyia}, and allies), usually winged.
[1913 Webster]