Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Either of two large, swift-running flightless birds (Struthio camelus or S. molybdophanes) of Africa, characterized by a long bare neck, small head, and two-toed feet. Ostriches are the largest living birds.
- noun A rhea.
- noun One who tries to avoid disagreeable situations by refusing to face them.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A very large ratite bird of the genus Struthio.
- noun Four species of ostriches are now recognized, the name Struthis camelus being restricted to the northern species that ranges into Arabia. S. molybdophanes is from Somaliland, and S. meridionalis or masaicus from Central Africa. The southern species, S. australis, is the one that has been partially domesticated and is kept in ostrich-farms for the sake of its feathers. The eggs of these species differ quite as much as do the birds themselves, that of S. camelus being quite smooth while the others are more or less deeply pitted.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A large bird of the genus Struthio, of which
Struthio camelus of Africa is the best known species. It has long and very strong legs, adapted for rapid running; only two toes; a long neck, nearly bare of feathers; and short wings incapable of flight. The adult male is about eight feet high. - noun a farm on which ostriches are bred for the sake of their feathers, oil, eggs, etc.
- noun the occupation of breeding ostriches for the sake of their feathers, etc.
- noun (Bot.) a kind of fern (
Onoclea Struthiopteris ), the tall fronds of which grow in a circle from the rootstock. It is found in alluvial soil in Europe and North America.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A large
flightless bird (Struthio camelus ) native toAfrica .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun fast-running African flightless bird with two-toed feet; largest living bird
- noun a person who refuses to face reality or recognize the truth (a reference to the popular notion that the ostrich hides from danger by burying its head in the sand)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Then he began to lose his birds by accident, by the destructive propensities of the goblin and a vicious old hen or two; and lastly, some kind of epidemic, which they dubbed ostrich chicken-pox, carried the young birds off wholesale.
Diamond Dyke The Lone Farm on the Veldt - Story of South African Adventure George Manville Fenn 1870
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But the ostrich is a monster in nature, for she drops her eggs any where upon the ground and takes no care to hatch them.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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The ostrich is right between the Tin Man and Dorothys head!
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But ostrich is good too, and harder to find. margojean www. geocities.com/margotwoj/game. html
have you tried ostrich meat? healthy, lean, looks and tastes like beef 2006
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Here also, at a little cupboard of a shop near the Shoe Bazaar, we were tempted to spend a few pounds in ostrich feathers, which are conveyed to
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The ostrich is a great bird, with very long legs and small wings; and as legs are to run with, and wings to fly with, of course he can run better than he can fly.
The Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball That Floats in the Air 1888
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The ostrich is a wonderful animal, a very large bird, but it never flies.
Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon) 1721
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Egypt; and the eggs of innumerable insects, and the spawn of fish, and of frogs, in this climate are hatched by the vernal warmth: this might be the case of birds in warm climates, in their early state of existence; and experience might have taught them to incubate their eggs, as they became more perfect animals, or removed themselves into colder climates: thus the ostrich is said to sit upon its eggs only in the night in warm situations, and both day and night in colder ones
Note IX 1803
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Sorry to disappoint the silly man aka ostrich, but I applaud your common sense., but as I do not address him any more you could oblige me and ask him to stop sending all his rubbish twice every time.
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As they notice patterns and similarities and differences, they begin to conceptualize: “The ostrich is a giraffe-bird.”
Testing for Kindergarten Karen Quinn 2010
oroboros commented on the word ostrich
Supposedly an ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain!
October 5, 2007
reesetee commented on the word ostrich
Yeah, I feel that way some days.
October 5, 2007
hernesheir commented on the word ostrich
"There is something obscene about a running ostrich, with the pounding hackney action of its great bare pink legs, its plumage bouncing like a ballet skirt in a third-rate opera. In my car I paced one at over thirty-six miles per hour....Not till the ostrich was within thirty yards of him did he stop dancing, snatch the towel from his head and flap it at the bird. Greatly to my relief the creature swerved, braking hard, and came to a dead stop. 'Look now,' cried Wanyuki, 'he pretends to be dead'. He wants me to go close up to him, when he would jump up and kill me with his foot'."
Ruth Eaden, "Outwitting the Ostrich", The Countryman, Autumn, 1957, p.429.
October 2, 2009