beak

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc.
2. (countable, uncountable) A similar pointed structure forming the nose and mouth of various animals, such as turtles, platypuses, whales, etc.
3. (countable, uncountable) The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.
4. (countable, uncountable) The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve.
5. (countable, uncountable) The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.
6. (countable, uncountable) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.
7. (broadly, countable, uncountable) Anything projecting or ending in a point like a beak, such as a promontory of land.
8. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.
9. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A toe clip.
10. (broadly, countable, uncountable) That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.
11. (broadly, countable, uncountable) A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, used as a ram to pierce the vessel of an enemy.
12. (broadly, countable, uncountable) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Libythea, notable for the beak-like elongation on their heads.
13. (countable, slang, uncountable) A person's nose, especially one that is large and pointed.
14. (countable, slang, uncountable) A person's mouth.
15. (Southern-England, slang, uncountable) Cocaine.

Verb

1. (transitive) To strike with the beak.
2. (transitive) To seize with the beak.
3. (Northern-Ireland, intransitive) To play truant.

Synonyms

bill

snout

mouth

nose

👃

neb

nozzle

nib

peck

rostrum

pecker

point

honker

hooter

snoot

lip

pick

⛏️

schnozzle

schnoz

spout

tappet

trunk

bird beak

New Zealand marlin

Pacific striped marlin

barred marlin

appendage

beakie

conceal

conk

cusp

end

🔚

extremity

face

fipple

head

magistrate

mouthpiece

muzzle

overhang

projection

protuberance

prow

schoolmaster

spur

summit

Translations

bec

pico

becco

Schnabel

bico

snavel

bek

bec

ράμφος

gaga

rostrum

منقار

bèc

beccus

Pronounced as (IPA)

/biːk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bec

Cognate with Breton: beg

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Bäk

In summary

From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).