Definitions

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

  • noun A fleshy or waxlike membrane at the base of the upper beak in certain birds, such as parrots, through which the nostrils open.
  • transitive verb To wrap in or as if in cerecloth.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To wax, or cover with wax, or with a cerecloth.
  • noun Wax.
  • noun In ornith.: Properly, a fleshy cutaneous or membranous, sometimes feathered, covering of the base of the upper mandible of a bird, as of all birds of prey and parrots: so called from its waxy appearance. A bare space about the base of the upper mandible, or a fleshy prominence in that situation, or a distinct part of the covering of the upper mandible, though of the same texture as the rest.
  • noun Also cera and ceroma.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) The soft naked sheath at the base of the beak of birds of prey, parrots, and some other birds. See beak.
  • transitive verb To wax; to cover or close with wax.

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

  • noun ornithology A waxy protuberance at the base of the upper beak in certain birds.
  • verb transitive To wax; to cover or close with wax.

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

  • noun the fleshy, waxy covering at the base of the upper beak of some birds
  • verb wrap up in a cerecloth

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English sere, from Old French cire, from Medieval Latin cēra, from Latin, wax; see cerate.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English ceren, ciren, from Old French cirer, to cover with wax, from Latin cērāre; see cerate.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Middle English sere, from Old French cire, from Latin cera ("wax, cere"), or via Latin cero ("I cere").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word cere.

Examples

  • CPW also markets cereal bars in able to offset high levels of input cost inflation with a combination several European countries and manufactures private label cere - of pricing actions, sourcing productivity, and manufacturing als for customers in the United Kingdom.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • CPW also markets cereal bars in able to offset high levels of input cost inflation with a combination several European countries and manufactures private label cere - of pricing actions, sourcing productivity, and manufacturing als for customers in the United Kingdom.

    Recently Uploaded Slideshows 2009

  • There was a deep gash from the top of his beak, through the cere, and a nick in his eyelid, clearly from the same blow.

    Elephant in the City 2010

  • The gryphon had his beak clamped around a bedroll, and flinched every time she pierced his cere with the needle.

    Elephant in the City 2010

  • For the betterment of all, they shouldered the burden of being the huntsmen and butchers, the judges and jailers, the hangmen and executioners, the grave-diggers and cere-clothiers.

    The Codex Continual » “Nine are the Candles”-An Excerpt 2008

  • Sau oare a privi slava lui Dumnezeu în viaţa lui Isus ne cere să gândim altfel despre slavă, despre glorie?

    Noi Am Privit Slava Lui (Ioan 1.1-18) James F. McGrath 2009

  • Apoi introduce un concept familiar în epoca în care evanghelia a fost scrisă, însă care cere explicaţie şi clarificaţie în vremea noastră.

    Noi Am Privit Slava Lui (Ioan 1.1-18) James F. McGrath 2009

  • Droplets gathered on its bare cere and rolled forward, filling the hole on its beak.

    A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009

  • For many kids, getting to the end is now simply a matter of making it through one more excruciating cere ...

    Jenifer Fox: School's Out, Kids Can Feel Smart Again 2009

  • For many kids, getting to the end is now simply a matter of making it through one more excruciating cere ...

    Jenifer Fox: School's Out, Kids Can Feel Smart Again 2009

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • as in "the membrane on the upper beak of some birds"

    February 2, 2007

  • (from Latin cera). Hawks, parrots, doves, skuas and budgerigars are among the birds that have ceres.

    February 24, 2008