: a male peafowl distinguished by a crest of upright feathers and by greatly elongated loosely webbed upper tail coverts which are mostly tipped with iridescent spots and are erected and spread in a shimmering fan usually as a courtship display
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Noun
Baker Mayfield is proud as a peacock (Jason Behnken / Associated Press)
Aikman has grown to appreciate the unbridled confidence of Mayfield.—Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025 Browse the farm stand for fresh produce, pick up a homemade pie, or get up close and personal with the resident goats, alpacas, and peacocks.—Cliff Lewis, Orange County Register, 13 Dec. 2024
Verb
The need among small-time meme coin creators to peacock for attention became even more acute when celebrities piled in.—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 12 Sep. 2024 Captain Alan Zaremba of Hollywood specializes in guiding anglers to peacock bass in South Florida as well as in the Amazon River basin in Colombia and Brazil.—Steve Waters, Miami Herald, 7 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for peacock
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English pecok, from pe- (from Old English pēa peafowl, from Latin pavon-, pavo peacock) + cok cock
: the male of a very large Asian pheasant having a very long brightly colored tail that can be spread or raised, a small crest of upright feathers on the top of the head, and in most forms brilliant blue or green feathers on the neck and shoulders
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