peacock

nom

1. 1

   A male peafowl, especially Pavo cristatus, notable for its brilliant iridescently ocellated tail.

   The ſpring diſplaying her elegant taſte, the proud walk of the gold-feathered pheaſant, the light tread of the ſmall-hoofed hind, and the dancing of the ſtar-trained peacock, infuſed joy into the ſoul of the ſpectator of the aſtoniſhing works of the Creator.

2. 2

   A peafowl (of the genus Pavo or Afropavo), either male or female.

3. 3

   The meat of this bird.

   When a reader recently inquired if people really eat peacock, I stated that I’d never tasted the bird, roasted or otherwise, and as far as I knew, it is rarely cooked anywhere in the world.

   Nor do many people today long to eat peacock, which was both a privilege and an ordeal reserved for royalty.

   Nero, infamous emperor of Rome, built a rotating dining room in which guests could eat peacock while flower petals fluttered down from special panels in the ivory ceiling.

4. 4

   A pompous or vainglorious person [from the 14th c.].

5. 5

   Any of various Asian species of papilionid butterflies of the genus Papilio.

   The large and handsome spectre-butterfly, Hestia durvillei; the pale-winged peacock butterfly, Drusilla catops; and the most brilliant and wonderful of the clear-winged moths, Cocytia durvillei, were especially interesting, as well, as several little "blues," equalling in brilliancy and beauty anything the butterfly world can produce.

verbe

1. 1

   To strut about proudly or haughtily.

   A routine border-check in upstate New York had turned into a back-room interrogation, and I was worried, because the three friends I was traveling with didn’t respond to authority well. I could almost hear the wry grins cracking their faces as the officers peacocked. “Is U.S. Customs a joke to you?” one officer asked. My friend Alex said, “No law against smiling, sir.”

2. 2

   To engage in peacocking, ostentatious dress or behaviour to impress women.

Formes

pluriel

peacocks

passé

peacocked

participe passé

peacocked

participe présent

peacocking

3ᵉ personne du singulier

peacocks