birdie

1 of 2

noun

bird·​ie ˈbər-dē 

plural birdies

1

: a little bird

2

: a golf score of one stroke less than par on a hole compare eagle entry 1

3

: shuttlecock

In Asia, badminton is an obsession … . In one preliminary match in Malaysia, 21,000 people came out to watch the speeding birdie.

—Jennifer Boeth

birdie

2 of 2

verb

birdied; birdieing

transitive verb

: to score a birdie on

Examples of birdie in a Sentence

Noun

I made a birdie on the fifth hole.

I made birdie on the fifth hole.

Verb

She birdied the second hole.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Clark took the lead a scrambling birdie at the par-5 12th, making a 15-foot putt after a bunker shot with his right foot in the grass, his flexed right knee almost touching the ground. —ABC News, 23 May 2026

Outside of golf’s four majors, where dart-throwing approach shots and chip-in birdies suck up most of the oxygen, many annual PGA Tour stops quietly serve a second purpose beyond crowning a champion on Sunday afternoon. —Mike Dojc, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

Verb

Needing just one birdie over the final three holes for a 59, Kim missed by inches on the par-4 16th. —ABC News, 22 May 2026

In addition the first hole, Juarez birdied the seventh, ninth, 12th and 14th to make up for bogeys at the second, fourth and 13th, all par fours. —Steve Galluzzo, Los Angeles Times, 21 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1768, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1921, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for birdie

• gurdy
• purdy
• sturdy
• thirty
• wordy