Adjacent Words

Pigeon definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PIG'EON, n. A fowl of the genus Columba, of several species, as the stock dove, the ring dove, the turtle dove, and the migratory or wild pigeon of America. The domestic pigeon breeds in a box, often attached to a building, called a dovecot or pigeon-house. The wild pigeon builds a nest on a tree in the forest.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: wild and domesticated birds having a heavy body and short legs

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French pygoun, pijun, from Late Latin pipion-, pipio young bird, from Latin pipire to chirp Date: 14th century 1. any of a widely distributed family (Columbidae, order Columbiformes) of birds with a stout body, rather short legs, and smooth and compact plumage; especially a member of any of numerous varieties of the rock dove that exist in domestication and in the feral state in cities and towns throughout most of the world 2. a young woman 3. an easy mark ; dupe 4. clay pigeon II. noun Etymology: alteration of pidgin Date: 1826 an object of special concern ; accepted business or interest <tennis was not his pigeon>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. 1 any of several large usu. grey and white birds of the family Columbidae, esp. Columba livia, often domesticated and bred and trained to carry messages etc.; a dove (cf. rock-pigeon). 2 a person easily swindled; a simpleton. Phrases and idioms: pigeon-breast (or -chest) a deformed human chest with a projecting breastbone. pigeon-breasted (or -chested) having a pigeon-breast. pigeon-fancier a person who keeps and breeds fancy pigeons. pigeon-fancying this pursuit. pigeon-hawk = MERLIN. pigeon-hearted cowardly. pigeon-hole n. 1 each of a set of compartments in a cabinet or on a wall for papers, letters, etc. 2 a small recess for a pigeon to nest in. --v.tr. 1 deposit (a document) in a pigeon-hole. 2 put (a matter) aside for future consideration or to forget it. 3 assign (a person or thing) to a preconceived category. pigeon pair Brit. 1 boy and girl twins. 2 a boy and girl as sole children. pigeon's milk 1 a secretion from the oesophagus with which pigeons feed their young. 2 an imaginary article for which children are sent on a fool's errand. pigeon-toed (of a person) having the toes turned inwards. Derivatives: pigeonry n. (pl. -ies). Etymology: ME f. OF pijon f. LL pipio -onis (imit.) 2. n. 1 = PIDGIN. 2 colloq. a particular concern, job, or business (that's not my pigeon).

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pigeon Pi"geon, n. [F., fr. L. pipio a young pipping or chirping bird, fr. pipire to peep, chirp. Cf. Peep to chirp.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any bird of the order Columb[ae], of which numerous species occur in nearly all parts of the world. Note: The common domestic pigeon, or dove, was derived from the Old World rock pigeon (Columba livia). It has given rise to numerous very remarkable varieties, such as the carrier, fantail, nun, pouter, tumbler, etc. The common wild pigeons of the Eastern United States are the passenger pigeon, and the Carolina dove. See under Passenger, and Dove. See, also, Fruit pigeon, Ground pigeon, Queen pigeon, Stock pigeon, under Fruit, Ground, etc. 2. An unsuspected victim of sharpers; a gull. [Slang] Blue pigeon (Zo["o]l.), an Australian passerine bird (Graucalus melanops); -- called also black-faced crow. Green pigeon (Zo["o]l.), any one of numerous species of Old World pigeons belonging to the family Treronid[ae]. Imperial pigeon (Zo["o]l.), any one of the large Asiatic fruit pigeons of the genus Carpophada. Pigeon berry (Bot.), the purplish black fruit of the pokeweed; also, the plant itself. See Pokeweed. Pigeon English [perhaps a corruption of business English], an extraordinary and grotesque dialect, employed in the commercial cities of China, as the medium of communication between foreign merchants and the Chinese. Its base is English, with a mixture of Portuguese and Hindoostanee. --Johnson's Cyc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Pigeon Pi"geon, v. t. To pluck; to fleece; to swindle by tricks in gambling. [Slang] --Smart. He's pigeoned and undone. --Observer.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(pigeons) A pigeon is a bird, usually grey in colour, which has a fat body. Pigeons often live in towns. to put the cat among the pigeons: see cat N-COUNT see also clay pigeon, homing pigeon

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Pigeons are mentioned as among the offerings which, by divine appointment, Abram presented unto the Lord (Gen. 15:9). They were afterwards enumerated among the sin-offerings (Lev. 1:14; 12:6), and the law provided that those who could not offer a lamb might offer two young pigeons (5:7; comp. Luke 2:24). (See DOVE.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The rich provided large and expensive cotes of molded pottery for their birds, each section big enough for the home of one pair of birds, the regular rows of openings resembling lattice work, so that Isaiah refers to them as "windows" (Isa 60:8). Septuagint reads sun nossois, literally, "with young" or "fledglings" (see below). The middle classes modeled cotes of oven-baked clay, and the very poor cut holes in the walls, over the doors, and allowed the birds to enter and live with the family.

In wild estate, rock and wood pigeons swarmed in countless numbers through rocky caves and caverns and over the plains of Gennesaret, the forests of Gilead and the woody slopes of Carmel. They remained throughout the season, breeding at all times. The doves were migratory, and were kept in confinement only as caged pets or to be held for sale for sacrifice. For these purposes, it appears that the dove was slightly preferred. When only one bird was to be used, a dove is always specified; where two, almost in every case the dove is mentioned first. Where one or the other will suffice, the dove seems to have been given preference. This may have been because it required greater effort to procure a dove, and so it was considered a greater sacrifice. Everyone having a home of any sort had pigeons they could use, or they could be taken wild at any time. The dove is first mentioned in Ge 15:9: "And he said unto him, Take me a heifer three years old, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon."

It will be observed that the dove is mentioned first, and it is specified that the pigeon was to be young. It is probable that the people protected their domesticated pigeons by using the wild for sacrifice, whenever possible. Young birds could be taken from a nest at almost any time. The old birds, among the wild, were shy creatures and far more difficult to capture in nets or snares than doves that came close to cities and villages to live, and exhibited much less fear of man than the wild pigeons. The next reference is in Le 5:7: "And if his means suffice not for a lamb, then he shall bring his trespass-offering for that wherein he hath sinned, two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, unto Yahweh; one for a sin-offering, and the other for a burnt-offering." Here two birds of each kind were to be offered, if the person making the sacrifice could not afford a lamb. Again in Le 12:6: "And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb a year old for a burnt-offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove, for a sinoffering, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest." Here is a rare instance where the text or the translators place the pigeon first.

"And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, to the priest, to the door of the tent of meeting" (Nu 6:10). In So 2:14:

"O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock,

In the covert of the steep place,

Let me see thy countenance,

Let me hear thy voice;

For sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."

Here the text reads "dove," but the description of the location and the implication of the text prove the bird to have been a rock pigeon--a tender, loving thing, yet shy and timid, that peeps with eyes of bright concern over the rocks of its chosen home, down at the intruder. Isa 60:8: "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows?" Here is another place where the wrong bird is used. Doves were wild and migratory. They had no "windows." But the tile pots massed in one diamond-shaped cote appeared at a little distance, like latticed windows. This should read "pigeons" instead of "doves." For the same reason see Jer 48:28: "O ye inhabitants of Moab, leave the cities and dwell in the rock; and be like the dove that maketh her nest over the mouth of the abyss." Again the bird intended is the rock pigeon. Lu 2:24: "A sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." This describes the sacrifice offered in the temple by Mary following the birth of Jesus.

Gene Stratton-Porter

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A weak silly fellow easily imposed on. To pigeon; to cheat. To milk the pigeon; to attempt impossibilities, to be put to shifts for want of money. To fly a blue pigeon; to steal lead off a church.

Moby Thesaurus

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