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turkey

Pronunciation: /ˈtəːki/

Translate turkey | into French | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of turkey

noun (plural turkeys)

  • 1a large mainly domesticated game bird native to North America, having a bald head and (in the male) red wattles. It is a popular food on festive occasions such as Christmas and (in the US) Thanksgiving.
    • Meleagris gallopavo, family Meleagridae (or Phasianidae)
  • [mass noun] the flesh of the turkey as food.
  • 2 informal, chiefly North American something that is extremely or completely unsuccessful, especially a play or film: the movie flopped—the second in a trio of turkeys
  • a stupid or inept person: I felt like such a turkey spying on his house

Phrases

like turkeys voting for Christmas

informal used to suggest that a particular action or decision is hopelessly self-defeating: such a move by Liberal Democrats would be like turkeys voting for Christmas

talk turkey

North American informal discuss something frankly and straightforwardly: she promised to go talk turkey with the representatives

Origin:

mid 16th century: short for turkey cock or turkeyhen, originally applied to the guinea fowl (which was imported through Turkey), and then erroneously to the American bird

turkey in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of turkey in the US English dictionary

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