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

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 Pyongyang test-fired a bevy of missiles in 2017, including three purported to have intercontinental range, and a powerful nuclear weapon. — Joshua Berlinger, CNN, "Singapore summit: Anxious world awaits outcome of high-stakes talks," 12 June 2018 The Cubs are heading to town, bringing their bevy of fans into Miller Park. — Jr Radcliffe, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Ranking the 18 walk-off wins for the Brewers against the Chicago Cubs," 11 June 2018 That Sunday morning, White went to Saban’s home with the six other recruits on campus and toured the property — checking out the palatial estate, its bevy of Mercedes and off-road golf carts. — Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY, "Meet the quarterback recruit who chose Princeton over Alabama," 19 Apr. 2018 The tony gathering under white tents set up in West Hollywood Park drew its own bevy of celebrities from film, music, TV and other realms. — Randy Lewis, latimes.com, "Elton John's 26th Oscars viewing party raises $5.9 million for his AIDS Foundation," 6 Mar. 2018 The results of the large-scale study have a bevy of implications for pesticide regulation. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, "‘Safe’ Levels of Pesticide Still Hamper Bees’ Memory and Ability to Learn," 12 July 2018 The Alaska Skydive Center is bringing you a bevy of different skydiving jumps to try: glacier jumps, helicopter jumps and a midnight solstice jump. — Yoshina Okamoto, Anchorage Daily News, "Celebrating summer solstice: Here are parties and events around Alaska," 21 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.