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PEACOCK
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Male peafowl; having a crested head and very large fanlike tail marked with iridescent eyes or spots
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("peacock" is a kind of...):
bird of Juno; peafowl (very large terrestrial southeast Asian pheasant often raised as an ornamental bird)
Sense 2
Meaning:
European butterfly having reddish-brown wings each marked with a purple eyespot
Synonyms:
Inachis io; peacock; peacock butterfly
Classified under:
Nouns denoting animals
Hypernyms ("peacock" is a kind of...):
brush-footed butterfly; four-footed butterfly; nymphalid; nymphalid butterfly (medium to large butterflies found worldwide typically having brightly colored wings and much-reduced nonfunctional forelegs carried folded on the breast)
Holonyms ("peacock" is a member of...):
genus Inachis; Inachis (a genus of Nymphalidae)
Context examples:
A distinguished personage happened to visit the school that morning, and Amy's beautifully drawn maps received praise, which honor to her foe rankled in the soul of Miss Snow, and caused Miss March to assume the airs of a studious young peacock.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
How Jo laughed, with tears in her eyes, as she declared she might as well be a peacock and done with it, and how the 'Spread Eagle' might be said to flap his wings triumphantly over the House of March, as the paper passed from hand to hand.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Laurie did not read all this while he watched her feed the peacocks, but he saw enough to satisfy and interest him, and carried away a pretty little picture of a bright-faced girl standing in the sunshine, which brought out the soft hue of her dress, the fresh color of her cheeks, the golden gloss of her hair, and made her a prominent figure in the pleasant scene.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
This phantom wore many faces, but it always had golden hair, was enveloped in a diaphanous cloud, and floated airily before his mind's eye in a pleasing chaos of roses, peacocks, white ponies, and blue ribbons.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
