Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Of, relating to, or characteristic of a vulture.
  • adjective Rapacious; predatory.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Resembling a vulture; of or pertaining to the Vulturinæ.
  • Characteristic of a vulture, as in scenting carrion. Also vulturish.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Of or pertaining to a vulture; resembling a vulture in qualities or looks

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Pertaining to vultures.
  • adjective Predaceous.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective living by preying on other animals especially by catching living prey

Etymologies

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Examples

  • If Captain Ducie's features were aquiline, those of the stranger might be termed vulturine -- long, lean, narrow, with a thin, high-ridged nose, and a chin that was pointed with a tuft of thick, black hair.

    The Argosy Vol. 51, No. 2, February, 1891 Various

  • I was fishing an Ailsa's Elver, named after my god-daughter, a gorgeous fly of blue and black with a vulturine guinea fowl feather running its length.

    Salmon are back in Scottish rivers in force, and as elusive as ever 2011

  • I was fishing an Ailsa's Elver, named after my god-daughter, a gorgeous fly of blue and black with a vulturine guinea fowl feather running its length.

    Salmon are back in Scottish rivers in force, and as elusive as ever 2011

  • "Speed-the-Plow," in which a pair of vulturine Hollywood executives wrangle over the shapely carcass of a not-so-innocent secretary, was first seen in 1988 in a production that starred Joe Mantegna, Ron Silver and Madonna, a cast about which New York playgoers are still talking.

    Life in Hell, Hollywood Style 2008

  • A smallish man with vulturine features framed by thick grey hair opened the door.

    The Shadow of the Wind Zafon, Carlos Ruiz 2001

  • They were of a hundred varieties: black and white ibis with vulturine heads, sacred to the goddess of the river; flights of honking geese in russet plumage, each with a ruby droplet in the centre of its chest; herons of greenish-blue or midnight black, with bills like swords and ponderous wing-beats; and ducks in such profusion that their numbers challenged the eye and the credibility of the beholder.

    River God Smith, Wilbur, 1933- 1993

  • Just as Tannim had said, there were things lurking about the pimps, vulturine creatures of shifting shape and shadow, watching and waiting with infinite patience.

    Omnibus Lackey, Mercedes 1993

  • And though he was thin to the point of scrawniness, at some time in the not too distant past he must have grown enormously fat, for the flesh of his face had fallen into crevices, and vast hollow wattles transformed his neck into a vulturine travesty.

    Fortune's Favorites McCullough, Colleen, 1937- 1993

  • Just as Tannim had said, there were things lurking about the pimps, vulturine creatures of shifting shape and shadow, watching and waiting with infinite patience.

    The Chrome Borne Lackey, Mercedes 1993

  • A trio of hard-faced, vulturine men, they seemed both surprised and suspicious when they saw her beside Tonno's bed.

    The Lark And The Wren Lackey, Mercedes 1992

Comments

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  • "However, in time the Strasburg pie, the smoked tongue, the other side-dishes, a noble Minorcan cheese, dessert and a capital port overlaid the unfortunate, even vulturine memory of the geese pie."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 95

    February 20, 2008

  • Good word.

    February 20, 2008