Word Meanings - OSTRICH - Book Publishers vocabulary database

A large bird of the genus Struthio, of which Struthio camelus of Africa is the best known species. It has long and very strong legs, adapted for rapid running; only two toes; a long neck, nearly bare of feathers; and short wings incapable of flight.

Additional info about word: OSTRICH

A large bird of the genus Struthio, of which Struthio camelus of Africa is the best known species. It has long and very strong legs, adapted for rapid running; only two toes; a long neck, nearly bare of feathers; and short wings incapable of flight. The adult male is about eight feet high. Note: The South African ostrich and the Asiatic ostrich are considered distinct species by some authors. Ostriches are now domesticated in South Africa in large numbers for the sake of their plumes. The body of the male is covered with elegant black plumose feathers, while the wings and tail furnish the most valuable white plumes. Ostrich farm, a farm on which ostriches are bred for the sake of their feathers, oil, eggs, etc. -- Ostrich farming, the occupation of breeding ostriches for the sake of their feathers, etc. -- Ostrich fern a kind of fern , the tall fronds of which grow in a circle from the rootstock. It is found in alluvial soil in Europe and North America. (more info) autruche, L. avis struthio; avis bird + struthio ostrich, fr. Gr.

Related words: (words related to OSTRICH)

• ADAPTABLE
  Capable of being adapted.
• RAPID
  1. Very swift or quick; moving with celerity; fast; as, a rapid stream; a rapid flight; a rapid motion. Ascend my chariot; guide the rapid wheels. Milton. 2. Advancing with haste or speed; speedy in progression; in quick sequence; as, rapid growth;
• SHORT-WITED
  Having little wit; not wise; having scanty intellect or judgment.
• AFRICAN
  A native of Africa; also one ethnologically belonging to an African race.
• AFRICANISM
  A word, phrase, idiom, or custom peculiar to Africa or Africans. "The knotty Africanisms . . . of the fathers." Milton.
• FLIGHTER
  A horizontal vane revolving over the surface of wort in a cooler, to produce a circular current in the liquor. Knight.
• RAPIDNESS
  Quality of being rapid; rapidity.
• SHORT CIRCUIT
  A circuit formed or closed by a conductor of relatively low resistance because shorter or of relatively great conductivity.
• STRONGYLOID
  Like, or pertaining to, Strongylus, a genus of parasitic nematode worms of which many species infest domestic animals. Some of the species, especially those living in the kidneys, lungs, and bronchial tubes, are often very injurious. -- n.
• SHORT-HANDED
  Short of, or lacking the regular number of, servants or helpers.
• SPECIES
  A group of individuals agreeing in common attributes, and designated by a common name; a conception subordinated to another conception, called a genus, or generic conception, from which it differs in containing or comprehending more attributes,
• SHORTHEAD
  A sucking whale less than one year old; -- so called by sailors.
• WHICHEVER; WHICHSOEVER
  Whether one or another; whether one or the other; which; that one which; as, whichever road you take, it will lead you to town.
• SHORTCAKE
  An unsweetened breakfast cake shortened with butter or lard, rolled thin, and baked.
• STRONGYLID
  Strongyloid.
• RAPIDITY
  The quality or state of being rapid; swiftness; celerity; velocity; as, the rapidity of growth or improvement. Syn. -- -- Rapidness; haste; speed; celerity; velocity; swiftness; fleetness; quickness; agility.
• SHORTLY
  1. In a short or brief time or manner; soon; quickly. Chaucer. I shall grow jealous of you shortly. Shak. The armies came shortly in view of each other. Clarendon. 2. In few words; briefly; abruptly; curtly; as, to express ideas more shortly in
• RAPIDLY
  In a rapid manner.
• AFRICANIZE
  To place under the domination of Africans or negroes. Bartlett.
• FLIGHTINESS
  The state or quality of being flighty. The flightness of her temper. Hawthorne. Syn. -- Levity; giddiness; volatility; lightness; wildness; eccentricity. See Levity.
• RIGHT-RUNNING
  Straight; direct.
• INCAPABLE
  Unqualified or disqualified, in a legal sense; as, a man under thirty-five years of age is incapable of holding the office of president of the United States; a person convicted on impeachment is thereby made incapable of holding an office of profit
• ENLARGEMENT
  1. The act of increasing in size or bulk, real or apparent; the state of being increased; augmentation; further extension; expansion. 2. Expansion or extension, as of the powers of the mind; ennoblement, as of the feelings and character; as, an
• HEADSTRONG
  1. Not easily restrained; ungovernable; obstinate; stubborn. Not let headstrong boy my will control. Dryden. 2. Directed by ungovernable will, or proceeding from obstinacy. Dryden. Syn. -- Violent; obstinate; ungovernable; unratable; stubborn;
• PASSIVE FLIGHT
  Flight, such as gliding and soaring, accomplished without the use of motive power.
• SUBGENUS
  A subdivision of a genus, comprising one or more species which differ from other species of the genus in some important character or characters; as, the azaleas now constitute a subgenus of Rhododendron.
• FOOL-LARGESSE
  Foolish expenditure; waste. Chaucer.
• EURAFRIC; EURAFRICAN
  Of, pertaining to, or designating, the continents of Europe and Africa combined. 2. Pert. to or designating a region including most of Europe and northern Africa south to the Sahara. 3. Of European and African descent.