partridge
nounattested in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈpɑːtɹɪd͡ʒ//
- United States//ˈpɑɹtɹɪd͡ʒ//
Any bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.
noun
- 1
Any bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.
On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me a partridge in a pear tree.
...and the loudest sound in the lonely fields was when, adventuring too near some late brood, the partridge sought to deceive by a plaintive cry and seeming helplessness, crossing before your very feet, till, when drawn to a sufficient distance, suddenly the air vibrated to the flutter of her active pinions.
- 2
The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food.
- 3
obsoleteA type of cannon charge composed of several missiles fired all together, similar to langrage or case-shot. Also a large cannon that shoots stones.
Etymology
From Middle English partrich, partriche, pertriche, perdriz, from Old French perdriz, partriz, from Latin perdīx (“partridge”), from Ancient Greek πέρδιξ (pérdix, “partridge”), probably from πέρδομαι (pérdomai, “to fart”).
Forms
- plural
- partridges
partridge · Any bird of a number of genera in the family Phasianidae, notably in the genera Perdix and Alectoris.
Partridge · A surname.parts · Intellectual ability or learning.party · A person or group of people constituting one side in a legal…