NUTCRACKER

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does nutcracker mean? 

• NUTCRACKER (noun)
  The noun NUTCRACKER has 3 senses:

1. a compound lever used to crack nuts open

2. any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects

3. speckled birds that feed on nuts

  Familiarity information: NUTCRACKER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• NUTCRACKER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A compound lever used to crack nuts open

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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

compound lever (a pair of levers hinged at the fulcrum)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

nutcracker; nuthatch

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

oscine; oscine bird (passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus)

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

European nuthatch; Sitta europaea (a kind of nuthatch)

red-breasted nuthatch; Sitta canadensis (bluish-grey nuthatch with reddish breast; of northern coniferous forests)

Sitta carolinensis; white-breasted nuthatch (bluish-grey nuthatch with black head and white breast; of eastern North America)

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

family Sittidae; Sittidae (nuthatches)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Speckled birds that feed on nuts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

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

corvine bird (birds of the crow family)

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

common nutcracker; Nucifraga caryocatactes (Old World nutcracker)

Clark's nutcracker; Nucifraga columbiana (nutcracker of the western United States)

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

genus Nucifraga; Nucifraga (nutcrackers)