Definition of BEVY

What Makes Up a bevy?

What do you call a group of crows? Or swine? Or leopards? Well-educated members of the medieval gentry seem to have been expected to know the answers: a murder of crows, a sounder of swine, and a leap of leopards. They would also have been expected to know that bevy referred specifically to a group of deer, quail, larks, or young ladies. Scholars aren't certain why bevy was chosen for those groups (though they have theories). What is known for sure is that bevy first appeared in the 15th century and was used as a highly specific collective for many years. Today, however, bevies can include anything from football players to toaster ovens.

Examples of bevy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the memos indicate that the bulk of the information flow at the meeting went the other way, with the AP journalists providing the FBI with a bevy of facts [it] uncovered during its inquiries into Manafort's work and finances. — James Hohmann, Washington Post, "The Daily 202: Trump’s confusion about Bush’s slogan illustrates his narrow view of the presidency," 9 July 2018 Seems like just yesterday that Swift was hosting blowouts on the Westerly waterfront every Fourth of July, complete with a bevy of boldface names in tow. — Hayley Kaufman, BostonGlobe.com, "Taylor Swift’s tour rolls into Gillette soon. Will she visit her $18m R.I. manse?," 6 July 2018 Royal Oak is one of a bevy of Detroit suburbs, as well as towns nationwide, that built its city hall and other key facilities in the 1950s and ‘60s. — Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press, "Royal Oak 'rethinks' downtown with city hall, parking, office tower plans," 4 May 2018 The The Wildcats’ lead grew as high as 15 in the opening minutes of the second half and took advantage of a bevy of Texas Tech fouls, racking up 29 points at the free-throw line. — Kyle Hightower, star-telegram, "Texas Tech's tournament run halted by No. 1 Villanova | Fort Worth Star-Telegram," 25 Mar. 2018 The Hallwang Clinic has emerged in recent years as the highest profile of a bevy of cancer clinics to gain traction in Germany. — Lindsay Gellman, Longreads, "The Last Resort," 22 Mar. 2018 The bevy of choices is a little paralyzing, but here’s reassurance: all are delicious. — Peter Fish, San Francisco Chronicle, "The best place to grab lunch in Corralitos is a tiny sausage shop," 12 Apr. 2018 Their bevy of injuries has forced them to turn to Gallardo, who hasn’t had an ERA below 5.42 since the 2015 season. — Mike Barner, SI.com, "MLB DFS Plays for June 29," 29 June 2018 At separate ends of town, two buxom madams and their bevies of painted, frilled and scandalously clad ladies welcomed miners and threw lavish parties. — Brigit Katz, Smithsonian, "Historic California Ghost Town Is Up For Sale," 16 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'bevy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.