: a male peafowl distinguished by a crest of upright feathers and by greatly elongated loosely webbed upper tail coverts which are mostly tipped with iridescent spots and are erected and spread in a shimmering fan usually as a courtship display
Or the Italian monastery table that seats 24, never mind the tapestries, peacock feathers, brass candlesticks and Persian rugs seemingly everywhere.—Jane Margolies, San Diego Union-Tribune, 8 June 2024 The Real Time Crime Center, based out of the old TV station for the local NBC affiliate in east Fort Worth that still has the peacock logo of the news station in some places, takes feeds from cameras all over the city and uses them to detect and respond to crimes, as well as to locate suspects.—James Hartley, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4 June 2024
Verb
Captain Alan Zaremba of Hollywood specializes in guiding anglers to peacock bass in South Florida as well as in the Amazon River basin in Colombia and Brazil.—Steve Waters, Miami Herald, 7 June 2024 The Romp in Providence drew mostly white Gen X and baby boomer women who each paid $10 to peacock about in Mrs. Roper’s signature look (tight red perm, floor-sweeping caftans, chunky costume jewelry) and compete in trivia and limbo contests.—Erik Piepenburg, BostonGlobe.com, 23 Aug. 2023 See all Example Sentences for peacock
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'peacock.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English pecok, from pe- (from Old English pēa peafowl, from Latin pavon-, pavo peacock) + cok cock
: the male of a very large Asian pheasant having a very long brightly colored tail that can be spread or raised, a small crest of upright feathers on the top of the head, and in most forms brilliant blue or green feathers on the neck and shoulders
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