Definitions

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

  • noun Any of a breed of domestic pigeons having a small crested head and a ruffled breast.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An obsolete form of turbot.
  • noun A breed of domestic pigeons with white body and colored wings, ruffled breast, very short stout beak, flattened head, and peak-crest or shell-crest or both. There are several color-varieties; some are whole-colored.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) The turbot.
  • noun (Zoöl.) A variety of the domestic pigeon, remarkable for its short beak.

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

  • noun A kind of pigeon developed over many years of selective breeding, known for its peaked crest, short beak, and frill of feathers on the breast.
  • noun The turbot.

Etymologies

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

[Origin unknown.]

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Examples

Comments

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  • The turbit has a short and conical beak, with a line of reversed feathers down the breast; and it has the habit of continually expanding, slightly, the upper part of the oesophagus.

    Origin of Species, ch. 1

    A kind of pigeon. Possibly from L turbo "(spinning) top", which possibly also gave 'turbot' the fish.

    February 10, 2009