Illustration of turkey
- turkey 1
plural turkeys
1
plural also turkey
: a large North American gallinaceous bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that is domesticated in most parts of the world
also
: its flesh used as food
3
: three successive strikes in bowling
4
: a stupid, foolish, or inept person
Examples of turkey in a Sentence
He was acting like a complete turkey.
only a turkey would think it's a good idea to go for a jog when the weather drops below zero
Recent Examples on the Web
In November, the restaurant handed out Thanksgiving turkeys to the community.
—
Jermont Terry, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
In addition to dessert, Gunther’s Ice Cream serves a variety of hot dogs and sandwiches including egg salad, turkey and peanut butter and jelly.
—Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
january 2, Sacbee.com, 2 Jan. 2026
Large cuts of meat like ham, standing rib roast, and a whole turkey will obviously need larger cooking vessels, while small whole chickens, tenderloins, and the like can utilize large skillets and even some specialized cookware (looking at you, paella pan).
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2025
This is the turkey people will still be talking about next year.
—Lynn Andriani, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for turkey
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Jermont Terry, CBS News, 3 Jan. 2026
In addition to dessert, Gunther’s Ice Cream serves a variety of hot dogs and sandwiches including egg salad, turkey and peanut butter and jelly.
—Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado
january 2, Sacbee.com, 2 Jan. 2026
Large cuts of meat like ham, standing rib roast, and a whole turkey will obviously need larger cooking vessels, while small whole chickens, tenderloins, and the like can utilize large skillets and even some specialized cookware (looking at you, paella pan).
—Patricia Shannon, Southern Living, 31 Dec. 2025
This is the turkey people will still be talking about next year.
—Lynn Andriani, Martha Stewart, 31 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for turkey
Cite this Entry
“Turkey.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/turkey. Accessed 5 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
turkey
noun
tur·key
ˈtər-kē 
plural turkeys
1
plural also turkey
: a large North American bird that is related to the domestic chicken and is domesticated in most parts of the world
2
: something that is a failure
the new play was a turkey
3
: a stupid or foolish person
Etymology
from turkey-cock, an old word for "guinea fowl," from Turkey, a country in Asia Minor; so called because at one time people thought guinea fowl came from Turkey
Word Origin
The bird we now call the guinea fowl was once called the turkey. Turkey was the shortened version of turkey-cock and turkey-hen. The guinea fowl's original home was in Africa. However, Europeans discovered that it was good to eat and did well in captivity, so they brought it back to Europe. Some people mistakenly thought that the birds came from Turkey, and the name stuck. Later, when English settlers first arrived in America, they found a large bird living here that was also good to eat. They called this new bird turkey because it reminded them of the turkey they were familiar with back in Europe.
Geographical Definition
Turkey
geographical name
Tur·key
ˈtər-kē
variants
or now officially Türkiye
country in western Asia and southeastern Europe between the Mediterranean and Black seas; capital Ankara area 302,535 square miles (783,562 square kilometers), population 81,257,000 see ottoman empire
Note: Turkey was formerly the center of an empire whose capital was Constantinople. Since 1923 it has been a republic.
see also turk sense 1
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