BEAK

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does beak mean? 

• BEAK (noun)
  The noun BEAK has 4 senses:

1. beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)

2. horny projecting mouth of a bird

3. a beaklike, tapering tip on certain plant structures

4. informal terms for the nose

  Familiarity information: BEAK used as a noun is uncommon.

• BEAK (verb)
  The verb BEAK has 1 sense:

1. hit lightly with a picking motion

  Familiarity information: BEAK used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BEAK (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("beak" is a kind of...):

mouth (the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening)

Derivation:

beak (hit lightly with a picking motion)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Horny projecting mouth of a bird

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

beak; bill; neb; nib; pecker

Hypernyms ("beak" is a kind of...):

mouth (the externally visible part of the oral cavity on the face and the system of organs surrounding the opening)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "beak"):

cere (the fleshy, waxy covering at the base of the upper beak of some birds)

Holonyms ("beak" is a part of...):

bird (warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings)

Derivation:

beak (hit lightly with a picking motion)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A beaklike, tapering tip on certain plant structures

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Hypernyms ("beak" is a kind of...):

tip (the extreme end of something; especially something pointed)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Informal terms for the nose

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

beak; honker; hooter; nozzle; schnoz; schnozzle; snoot; snout

Hypernyms ("beak" is a kind of...):

nose; olfactory organ (the organ of smell and entrance to the respiratory tract; the prominent part of the face of man or other mammals)

Domain region:

America; the States; U.S.; U.S.A.; United States; United States of America; US; USA (North American republic containing 50 states - 48 conterminous states in North America plus Alaska in northwest North America and the Hawaiian Islands in the Pacific Ocean; achieved independence in 1776)

• BEAK (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hit lightly with a picking motion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

beak; peck; pick

Hypernyms (to "beak" is one way to...):

strike (deliver a sharp blow, as with the hand, fist, or weapon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Derivation:

beak (horny projecting mouth of a bird)

beak (beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles))

 Context examples 

The cries of the people in the galleries, who were alarmed at the near approach of those glowing eyes and that murderous beak, excited the creature to a frenzy.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It just hinted of the eagle beak.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Like a cuckoo, it lays its eggs in the nests of other birds, and its chick hatches equipped with sharp hooks at the tips of its beak.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

But the duck swam quickly to her, seized her head in its beak and drew her into the water, and there the old witch had to drown.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Cactus finches have bigger body and beak as compared to other finch species living on the island at the time.

(Researchers report rapid formation of new bird species in Galápagos islands, Wikinews)

Solitude would be no solitude—rest no rest—while the vulture, hunger, thus sank beak and talons in my side.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But here’s the beak a-comin’ for us again.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Modern birds have beaks with no teeth and their bodies are covered in feathers.

(Aves, NCI Thesaurus)

The eyes had narrowed till they were eagle-like, and Martin almost caught his breath as he noted the eagle beak with its dilated nostrils, defiant, assertive, aggressive.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Aye, and the open beak.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)