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beak1

Syllabification: (beak)
Pronunciation: /bēk/
Translate beak | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of beak

noun

  • a bird’s horny projecting jaws; a bill.
  • the horny projecting jaw of animals other than birds, for example a turtle or squid.
  • informal a person’s nose, especially a hooked one:she can’t wait to stick her beak in
  • a projection at the prow of an ancient warship, typically shaped to resemble the head of a bird or other animal, used to pierce the hulls of enemy ships.

Derivatives

beaked

adjective
[in combination]:a yellow-beaked alpine chough

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French bec, from Latin beccus, of Celtic origin

beak in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of beak in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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