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Pheasant   /fˈɛzənt/   Listen
noun
Pheasant  n.  
1.
(Zool.) Any one of numerous species of large gallinaceous birds of the genus Phasianus, and many other genera of the family Phasianidae, found chiefly in Asia. Note: The common pheasant, or English pheasant (Phasianus Colchicus) is now found over most of temperate Europe, but was introduced from Asia. The ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus torquatus) and the green pheasant (Phasianus versicolor) have been introduced into Oregon. The golden pheasant (Thaumalea picta) is one of the most beautiful species. The silver pheasant (Euplocamus nychthemerus) of China, and several related species from Southern Asia, are very beautiful.
2.
(Zool.) The ruffed grouse. (Southern U.S.) Note: Various other birds are locally called pheasants, as the lyre bird, the leipoa, etc.
Fireback pheasant. See Fireback.
Gold pheasant, or Golden pheasant (Zool.), a Chinese pheasant (Thaumalea picta), having rich, varied colors. The crest is amber-colored, the rump is golden yellow, and the under parts are scarlet.
Mountain pheasant (Zool.), the ruffed grouse. (Local, U.S.)
Pheasant coucal (Zool.), a large Australian cuckoo (Centropus phasianus). The general color is black, with chestnut wings and brown tail. Called also pheasant cuckoo. The name is also applied to other allied species.
Pheasant duck. (Zool.)
(a)
The pintail.
(b)
The hooded merganser.
Pheasant parrot (Zool.), a large and beautiful Australian parrakeet (Platycercus Adelaidensis). The male has the back black, the feathers margined with yellowish blue and scarlet, the quills deep blue, the wing coverts and cheeks light blue, the crown, sides of the neck, breast, and middle of the belly scarlet.
Pheasant's eye. (Bot.)
(a)
A red-flowered herb (Adonis autumnalis) of the Crowfoot family; called also pheasant's-eye Adonis.
(b)
The garden pink (Dianthus plumarius); called also Pheasant's-eye pink.
Pheasant shell (Zool.), any marine univalve shell of the genus Phasianella, of which numerous species are found in tropical seas. The shell is smooth and usually richly colored, the colors often forming blotches like those of a pheasant.
Pheasant wood. (Bot.) Same as Partridge wood (a), under Partridge.
Sea pheasant (Zool.), the pintail.
Water pheasant. (Zool.)
(a)
The sheldrake.
(b)
The hooded merganser.





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Pheasant" Quotes from Famous Books



... desperate and ruinous passion. Mr Thorne had fallen too easily to give much pleasure in the chase. His position as a man of wealth might make his alliance of value, but as a lover he was very second-rate. We may say that she regarded him somewhat as a sportsman does a pheasant. The bird is so easily shot, that he would not be worth the shooting were it not for the very respectable appearance that he makes in a larder. The signora would not waste much time in shooting Mr Thorne, but still he was ...
— Barchester Towers • Anthony Trollope
... they ought! Neckart was used to see women of any age plume themselves when he was in sight. It was simple admission of his position. They knew their own capital of beauty or wit, and showed him the best of every point, just as a pheasant turns every golden feather to the sun when a passer-by comes near. He liked these radiant, self-asserting women, to be sure, very much as he did the silly fowl or a Skye terrier conscious of its beauty in every hair. But beauty was so much wasted ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 20, August 1877 • Various
... under the grateful shadows of the broad-topped oaks and chestnuts. A patriarchal pheasant, drumming on a log near by some uxorious communication to his brooding mate, distended his round eyes in amazement at the strange irruption of men and horses, and then whirred away in a transport of fear. A crimson crested woodpecker ceased ...
— The Red Acorn • John McElroy
... much-to-be-regretted pistols for two and coffee for four. I hold the lighters thus, and you draw. Whoever draws or keeps the short one is pledged to leave this world within four months, or shall we say five, on account of the pheasant shooting? Five be it. Is it agreed? ...
— Red Pottage • Mary Cholmondeley
... falconry and all the terms of the chase, he could not take his place in the ranks of men. The English country gentleman who now holds something the same position socially as the knight, is not a sportsman till he can use the breechloader with terrible effect at the pheasant-shoot, till he can wield the salmon-rod, or ride better than any Persian. Never were people—people in the widest sense—fonder of horses and dogs, and every kind of animal, than at the present day. The town has gone out into the country, but ...
— Field and Hedgerow • Richard Jefferies


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