Illustration of peafowl
- A female (peahen)
- B male (peacock)
peafowl
noun
pea·fowl
ˈpē-ˌfau̇(-ə)l 
: any of three very large terrestrial pheasants (Pavo cristatus and P. muticus of southeastern Asia and Afropavo congensis of central Africa) often raised as ornamental fowls due to their usually colorful, iridescent plumage and especially for the long, trailing tail coverts of the male which can be held more or less erect and outspread see also peacock, peahen
Examples of peafowl in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The birds are commonly known as peacocks, though the females are technically peahens, and both are peafowl.
—
Sydney Page, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
Peacock feathers through eyes of four different animals: (a) a peafowl; (b) humans; (c) honeybees; and (d) dogs.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2024
Controlling the peafowl overpopulation has been a challenge.
—Sandra Gutierrez, Popular Science, 25 Oct. 2023
This is the context in which Pinecrest, a Miami-Dade county municipality, pitched a vasectomy initiative to wane the presence of peafowl within its borders.
—Sandra Gutierrez, Popular Science, 25 Oct. 2023
Loud and flashy peafowl have taken over a suburb of Miami.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Aug. 2023
Finding a permanent home for peafowl became increasingly difficult over the years as trappers started refusing to deal with them and as once-reliable relocation sites, such as zoos, refused to take them.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2023
In the affluent village of Pinecrest, the peafowl found larger lots with plenty of greenery that were far more to their liking.
—Patricia Mazzei Alfonso Duran, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2023
At some point, Baldwin added peafowl to his collection.
—Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2021
Sydney Page, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
Peacock feathers through eyes of four different animals: (a) a peafowl; (b) humans; (c) honeybees; and (d) dogs.
—Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 23 Jan. 2024
Controlling the peafowl overpopulation has been a challenge.
—Sandra Gutierrez, Popular Science, 25 Oct. 2023
This is the context in which Pinecrest, a Miami-Dade county municipality, pitched a vasectomy initiative to wane the presence of peafowl within its borders.
—Sandra Gutierrez, Popular Science, 25 Oct. 2023
Loud and flashy peafowl have taken over a suburb of Miami.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 9 Aug. 2023
Finding a permanent home for peafowl became increasingly difficult over the years as trappers started refusing to deal with them and as once-reliable relocation sites, such as zoos, refused to take them.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 11 Aug. 2023
In the affluent village of Pinecrest, the peafowl found larger lots with plenty of greenery that were far more to their liking.
—Patricia Mazzei Alfonso Duran, New York Times, 9 Aug. 2023
At some point, Baldwin added peafowl to his collection.
—Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2021
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peafowl.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Peafowl.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/peafowl. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.
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