turkey
/ˈtɝki/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.56 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
With a distinguishing word: a bird resembling the Meleagris gallopavo (for example, the brush turkey or bush turkey (Alectura lathami), and the water turkey (Anhinga anhinga)).
Countable
Example Sentences
- "It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax."
- "All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch."
- "Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously."
- "That film was a turkey."
- "And despite the gross incompetence of Hemmings' direction, the ludicrous script, and the heavy-handed acting, there remains a stellar reason to see and enjoy Just a Gigolo: David Bowie. David Bowie is a great actor, and not even this turkey can obscure that fact."
- "There were a few turkeys. In the rush to present a futuristic vision, the railways' heritage was largely forgotten and we ended up with new stations at Euston and at Coventry, its brash sidekick which I particularly loathe, although (of course) it won design awards."
Etymology
Clipping of turkey-cock and turkey-hen, originally denoting the guinea fowl, an African bird that was first imported to Europe through Turkey, but there is some controversy over the origin. The word was then transferred to the superficially similar North American bird Meleagris gallopavo.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Turkye, Turcia, Τοῦρκος, تُرْک, 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɝki/
- British English: /ˈtɜːki/
Usage
- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Derogatory
- Slang
- Australian usage
- American usage
- Dated
Inflected Forms
turkeys (plural)
turkies (obsolete, plural)
turkie (alternative, obsolete)
Türkiye (alternative)
Turkiye (alternative, informal)
more Turkey (comparative)
most Turkey (superlative)
Derived Forms
Phrases
Albuquerque turkey
Australian brushturkey
Australian turkey
brush turkey
brush-turkey
bush turkey
Californian turkey
Cape Cod turkey