FALCON

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does falcon mean? 

• FALCON (noun)
  The noun FALCON has 1 sense:

1. diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight

  Familiarity information: FALCON used as a noun is very rare.

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

1. hunt with falcons

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

 Dictionary entry details 

• FALCON (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

hawk (diurnal bird of prey typically having short rounded wings and a long tail)

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

Falco peregrinus; peregrine; peregrine falcon (a widely distributed falcon formerly used in falconry)

Falco rusticolus; gerfalcon; gyrfalcon (large and rare Arctic falcon having white and dark color phases)

Falco tinnunculus; kestrel (small Old World falcon that hovers in the air against a wind)

American kestrel; Falco sparverius; kestrel; sparrow hawk (small North American falcon)

Falco columbarius; merlin; pigeon hawk (small falcon of Europe and America having dark plumage with black-barred tail; used in falconry)

Falco subbuteo; hobby (small Old World falcon formerly trained and flown at small birds)

caracara (any of various long-legged carrion-eating hawks of South America and Central America)

Holonyms ("falcon" is a member of...):

Falconidae; family Falconidae (a family of birds of the order Falconiformes)

Derivation:

falcon (hunt with falcons)

• FALCON (verb)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hunt with falcons

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Context example:

The tribes like to falcon in the desert

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

hunt; hunt down; run; track down (pursue for food or sport (as of wild animals))

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Sentence example:

In the summer they like to go out and falcon

Derivation:

falcon (diurnal birds of prey having long pointed powerful wings adapted for swift flight)

falconer (a person who breeds and trains hawks and who follows the sport of falconry)

falconry (the art of training falcons to hunt and return)

 Context examples 

We hoped to snare a falcon, said he presently, but we netted a carrion-crow.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In some areas, American kestrels — small falcons — are replacing chemicals by keeping pests and invasive species away from crops.

(American kestrels, most common predatory birds in U.S., can reduce need for pesticide use, National Science Foundation)

Humans have trained a range of species to help them find food: examples are dogs, falcons and cormorants.

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

I think (with deference be it spoken) the contrast could not be much greater between a sleek gander and a fierce falcon: between a meek sheep and the rough-coated keen-eyed dog, its guardian.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

But the dark, oxygen-free depths of a 100-foot blue hole known as Sawmill Sink provided ideal preservation conditions for the bones of Caracara creightoni, a species of large carrion-eating falcon that disappeared soon after humans arrived in the Bahamas about 1,000 years ago.

(Extinct Caribbean bird yields DNA after 2,500 years in watery grave, National Science Foundation)

Millions of mummified ibis birds have been found in Egyptian tombs and catacombs in Saqqara and Tuna el-Gebel, and Egyptologists have reported they were sacrificed to the god Thoth, who is often depicted with the head of an ibis, the way Horus is shown with the head of a falcon and Bast with the head of a cat.

(Ancient Egyptians collected wild ibis birds for sacrifice, says study, Wikinews)

A falcon or an eagle, quotha?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“What manner of talk is this? You speak as though the allegiance of our people were a thing which might be thrown off or on like a falcon's jessel.”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why, said Alleyne, a merlin is a bird of the same form as an eagle or a falcon.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He whipped it back with an oath, while she tore herself free and slipped behind Alleyne, cowering up against him like the trembling leveret who sees the falcon poising for the swoop above him.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)