early bird

noun

|Updated on: 10 Aug 2018

Definition of early bird

1 : an early riser

2 : one that arrives early and especially before possible competitors

Recent Examples of early bird from the Web

Ellington had early Bird rights this offseason, which meant the Heat can surpass the cap to pay him 175 percent of his $6.23 million salary this past season, which would have allowed the Heat to pay him as much as $10.9 million next season.

— barry jackson, miamiherald, "Wayne Ellington agrees to deal with Heat," 12 July 2018
Capcom is in a small group of early birds including Sony Corp. and Square Enix Holdings Co. that have begun to invest in cloud game services.

— takashi mochizuki, WSJ, "More Nintendo Switch Videogames May Be Coming Via the Cloud," 21 June 2018
Just 10% perished within 7 days, compared with 30% for the early birds, the team reports today in Science Advances.

— elizabeth pennisi, Science | AAAS, "Time to fly? Birds that leave the nest at the wrong time can bring disaster on the whole family," 20 June 2018
Maps modeled on Google driving directions, minus the tips on traffic and scenery, will provide estimates for the earliest or most likely arrival time for winds, something early birds and procrastinators alike can embrace.

— jenny staletovich, miamiherald, "Hurricane season is here, and so is a new arsenal of warnings," 30 May 2018
For those who signed up for DreamvilleFest.com, early bird tickets went on sale Friday.

— carl lamarre, Billboard, "J. Cole Launching Dreamville Music Festival in North Carolina," 27 Apr. 2018
Stevie Wonder first celebrity announced for Derby Purchase an early bird ticket for $20 to gain exclusive entry in the hat sample area from 4:30-5:30 p.m., an hour before all shoppers are allowed in.

— kirby adams, The Courier-Journal, "Can you get a Kentucky Derby hat for less than $20? Yes, if you can get into this sale," 19 Feb. 2018
On the flip side, for the minority of people who are early birds with clocks that are shorter than 24 hours, adjusting to going east is easier, says Sabra Abbott, a neurologist at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

— emily sohn, Washington Post, "Time-zone changes can leave people worried about jet lag," 7 July 2018
The Heat has Ellington’s early Bird rights, which allows them to exceed the cap and pay him 175 percent of his current salary (or as much as $10.9 million next season).

— manny navarro, miamiherald, "Here's why Friday's opt-in deadline is important for fans of a LeBron-Heat reunion," 27 June 2018

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