bald buzzard

3 definitions found

bald buzzard - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Bald \Bald\ (b[add]ld), a. [OE. balled, ballid, perh. the p. p.
     of ball to reduce to the roundness or smoothness of a ball,
     by removing hair. [root]85. But cf. W. bali whiteness in a
     horse's forehead.]
     1. Destitute of the natural or common covering on the head or
        top, as of hair, feathers, foliage, trees, etc.; as, a
        bald head; a bald oak.
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              On the bald top of an eminence.       --Wordsworth.
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     2. Destitute of ornament; unadorned; bare; literal.
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              In the preface to his own bald translation.
                                                    --Dryden.
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     3. Undisguised. " Bald egotism." --Lowell.
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     4. Destitute of dignity or value; paltry; mean. [Obs.]
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     5. (Bot.) Destitute of a beard or awn; as, bald wheat.
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     6. (Zool.)
        (a) Destitute of the natural covering.
        (b) Marked with a white spot on the head; bald-faced.
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     Bald buzzard (Zool.), the fishhawk or osprey.
  
     Bald coot (Zool.), a name of the European coot (Fulica  atra
        ), alluding to the bare patch on the front of the
        head.
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  Buzzard \Buz"zard\ (b[u^]z"z[~e]rd), n.[O.E. busard, bosard, F.
     busard, fr. buse, L. buteo, a kind of falcon or hawk.]
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     1. (Zool.) A bird of prey of the Hawk family, belonging to
        the genus Buteo and related genera.
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     2. (Zool.) In the United States, a term used for the turkey  vulture
         (Cathartes aura), and sometimes
        indiscriminately to any vulture.
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     Note: The Buteo vulgaris is the common buzzard of Europe.
           The American species (of which the most common are
           Buteo borealis, Buteo Pennsylvanicus, and Buteo lineatus
           ) are usually called hen hawks. -- The
           rough-legged buzzard, or bee hawk, of Europe (Pernis apivorus
           ) feeds on bees and their larv[ae], with other
           insects, and reptiles. -- The moor buzzard of Europe is
           Circus [ae]ruginosus. See Turkey buzzard, and
           Carrion buzzard.
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     Bald buzzard, the fishhawk or osprey. See Fishhawk.
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     2. A blockhead; a dunce.
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              It is common, to a proverb, to call one who can not
              be taught, or who continues obstinately ignorant, a
              buzzard.                              --Goldsmith.
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  Fishhawk \Fish"hawk`\, n. (Zool.)
     The osprey (Pandion halia["e]tus), found both in Europe and
     America; -- so called because it plunges into the water and
     seizes fishes in its talons. Called also fishing eagle, and
     bald buzzard.
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