cuckoo
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈkʊkuː/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈkuːkuː/
Noun

cuckoo

  1. Any of various birds, of the family Cuculidae, famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially the common cuckoo, Cuculus canorus, that has a characteristic two-note call.
    • 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act V Scene 1
      He knows me, as the blind man knows the cuckoo, / By the bad voice.
  2. The sound of that particular bird.
  3. The bird-shaped figure found in cuckoo clocks.
  4. The cuckoo clock itself.
  5. A person who inveigles themselves into a place where they should not be (used especially in the phrase a cuckoo in the nest).
  6. (slang) Someone who is crazy.
  7. Alternative form of coo-coo#English|coo-coo (“Barbadian food”)
Related terms Translations Translations
  • Italian: cu cu
  • Russian: ку-ку
Translations
  • Russian: ку-ку́
Verb

cuckoo (cuckoos, present participle cuckooing; past and past participle cuckooed)

  1. To make the call of a cuckoo.
  2. To repeat something incessantly.
Translations
  • Russian: куковать
Adjective

cuckoo

  1. (slang) Crazy; not sane.



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