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cuckoo

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
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Chestnut-breasted malkoha (Phaenicophaeus curvirostris)

Etymology

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FromMiddle Englishcokkou,kokkow,cukkuk,gokkouȝ, probably fromOld Frenchcocu,coquu,cucu (whenceFrenchcoucou); ultimatelyonomatopoeic of the song of the male Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), perhaps viaLatincucūlus(“cuckoo”).

Compare dialectal Englishgowkoo(“cuckoo”). DisplacedMiddle Englishgnokken(“cuckoo”) and nativeMiddle Englishyeke,ȝek (fromOld Englishġēac(“cuckoo”)), seeEnglishgowk.

The UK sense is byanalogy from the bird'spractice ofbrood parasitism.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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cuckoo (countable anduncountable,pluralcuckoos)

  1. Any of variousbirds, of the familyCuculidae within the orderCuculiformes, famous for laying its eggs in the nests of other species; but especially acommon cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), that has a characteristic two-note call.
  2. The sound of that particular bird.
  3. The bird-shaped figure found incuckoo clocks.
  4. The cuckoo clock itself.
  5. A person who inveigles themselves into a place where they should not be (used especially in the phrasea cuckoo in the nest).
  6. (slang) Someone who iscrazy.
  7. Alternative form ofcoo-coo(Barbadian food).

Derived terms

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Related terms

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Descendants

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Translations

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the bird
the sound
bird-shaped figure in cuckoo clock
cuckoo clock—see alsocuckoo clock
someone crazy—see alsocrazy

Verb

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EnglishWikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

cuckoo (third-person singular simple presentcuckoos,present participlecuckooing,simple past and past participlecuckooed)

  1. To make the call of a cuckoo.
    • 1971, Gwen White,Antique Toys And Their Background, page174:
      Switzerland is the home of many musical toys and here were carved whistles in the shapes of birds. Thesecuckooed realistically when blown into, with the beak opening and shutting, and the tail moving up and down to produce the 'cuck' and the 'oooh'.
  2. Torepeat something incessantly.(Can we add anexample for this sense?)
    Synonym:parrot
  3. (UK,law enforcement) To take over thehome of avulnerable person for the purposes of carrying outorganized crime in aconcealed way.
    • 2023,Sally Wainwright, 26:06 from the start, inHappy Valley, season 3, episode 2, spoken by Catherine Cawood (Sarah Lancashire):
      She'll have beencuckooed. That'll be the Knezevics. They can't launder fast enough, so what do you do with it? Where do you put it? You hide it in somebody else's place; somebody who han't got a clue what's going on and couldn't do a fat lot about it if they did.

Translations

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to make the call of a cuckoo
to repeat something incessantly

Adjective

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cuckoo (comparativemorecuckoo,superlativemostcuckoo)

  1. (slang)Crazy; notsane.
    I think I'm goingcuckoo!

Derived terms

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