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Beak   /bik/   Listen
noun
Beak  n.  
1.
(Zool.)
(a)
The bill or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny sheath, covering the jaws. The form varies much according to the food and habits of the bird, and is largely used in the classification of birds.
(b)
A similar bill in other animals, as the turtles.
(c)
The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects, and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.
(d)
The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve.
(e)
The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.
2.
Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land.
3.
(Antiq.) A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, in order to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.
4.
(Naut.) That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.
5.
(Arch.) A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.
6.
(Bot.) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.
7.
(Far.) A toe clip. See Clip, n. (Far.).
8.
A magistrate or policeman. (Slang, Eng.)





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Beak" Quotes from Famous Books



... debates Johnson said: "This speech terminates our joint debates. I have now encountered the 'Eagle Orator' upon every stump in the State, and come out of the contest with no flesh of mine in his claws—no blood of mine upon his beak." To which Henry instantly replied: "The eagle—the proud bird of freedom—never wars upon ...
— Something of Men I Have Known - With Some Papers of a General Nature, Political, Historical, and Retrospective • Adlai E. Stevenson
... towards the speaker and looked full upon the beak nose, cleft cheek and bristling red moustache of an old friend. "Good Lord, The Beachcomber!" I breathed. He started, peered at me and growled, "Captain Dawnay-Devenish, if it's all the same to you, ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156, April 16, 1919 • Various
... now was pulling Halvor out of the water, saw in an instant that he had by adding his weight to the raft, increased the chance of both being carried to their death. With quick resolution he plunged the beak of his own boat-hook into Marcus's raft, and shouted to Halvor to save himself. The latter, taking in the situation at a glance, laid hold of the handle of the boat-hook and together they pulled up alongside of Marcus and leaped aboard his raft, whereupon Viggo's raft drifted ...
— Boyhood in Norway • Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen
... a beak and talon as ever struck—as strong a wing as ever beat, belonged to Swift. I am glad, for one, that fate wrested the prey out of his claws, and cut his wings and chained him. One can gaze, and not without awe and pity, at the lonely eagle ...
— Harvard Classics Volume 28 - Essays English and American • Various
... wise, just man that I had done after my enemies' hopes. I make it that here across Ocean-Sea, far, far from Spain, he chose not to wait. He clucked to him all the disaffected and flew with a strong beak at the eyes of my friends." He moved his arms and his chains clanked. "I make it that this severity is Don Francisco de Bobadilla's, not King Ferdinand's, not—oh, more than ...
— 1492 • Mary Johnston


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