crow

SayKROH/kɹoʊ/UK/kɹəʊ/

Pluralcrows

Verbcrows, crowing, crowed

14 meanings of crow

Practice

1
birdnouncountable
A usually black bird of the genus Corvus, with a strong conical beak edged with bristles and a harsh, croaking call.
A crow perched on the telephone wire, watching the field below.
Crows often gather in large, noisy flocks at dusk.
UsageCommon in as the crow flies, meaning by the straightest route: ten miles as the crow flies.
Note
Paired with dogs, crows stand for what becomes of the unburied dead. E.R. Eddison's The Worm Ouroboros (1922) has captains "foredoomed to dogs and crows," a pairing that means death in the field without burial.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
Dogs and crows form a literary image of unburied bodies being eaten, supporting the note's interpretation of Eddison's phrase. gutenberg.org
E. R. Eddison wrote The Worm Ouroboros. en.wikisource.org
The Worm Ouroboros was first published in 1922. en.wikisource.org
The novel describes captains and their forces as 'foredoomed to dogs and crows'; this is narration presenting Gro's recollection, rather than spoken dialogue. en.wikisource.org
2
boastverbintransitive
To shout in triumph or defiance; to boast.
Rival fans crow whenever the home team loses.
She crowed in triumph as the last piece fell into place.
UsageUsually crow about something, and it suggests the pride is a little loud: crowing about their win.
Similargloat, boast, brag, exult
Note
The barnyard sound put into a human mouth: the rooster's call became the noise of someone gloating.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
The human boasting sense is a figurative extension of the verb for a rooster's call. en.wiktionary.org
Don't crow about your win yet; the season is long.
"We won," she crowed, waving the trophy over her head.
3
cry out (rooster)verbintransitive
To make the shrill sound characteristic of a rooster, whether in gaiety, joy, pleasure, or defiance.
Roosters crow at first light all across the valley.
The old cock crowed from the top of the fence.
UsagePast tense is usually crowed; the older crew appears in the Bible and Shakespeare.
Note
Two past tenses compete here. Crew, which descends from Old English crēow, is what the "morning cocke" does in Shakespeare's Hamlet, and it is still a British alternative. Crowed, the form The House that Jack Built uses, is the general form. Babies crow too: Tennyson's "sweetest little maid, / That ever crow'd for kisses" uses the regular form for a delighted child.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
Crew continues the Old English past tense crēow. en.wiktionary.org
Shakespeare's Hamlet uses crew with the words morning cocke; Horatio speaks the line. en.wikisource.org
Tennyson uses the quoted wording about a child in The Princess; Cyril speaks these words. en.wikisource.org
4
rooster's crynouncountable
A rooster's or cockerel's call, especially the one it gives at daybreak.
The first crow of the cockerel signaled that morning had come.
A rooster's crow carried clearly across the frosty fields.
Similarcry, call
Note
Its nursery-rhyme counterpart is cock-a-doodle-doo, which imitates the sound, while crow simply names it.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
Cock-a-doodle-doo occurs as a nursery rhyme. en.wikipedia.org
Cock-a-doodle-doo imitates a rooster's call. en.wiktionary.org
5
iron barnouncountable
An iron bar ending in a beak, crook, or claw, used for prying or levering; a crowbar.
She wedged the crow beneath the boulder and threw her weight against it.
A blacksmith could forge a crow strong enough to pry apart nailed timbers.
UsageToday crowbar is the usual word; iron crow avoids any confusion with the bird.
Similarcrowbar
Note
The tool without its -bar. Matthew Lewis's The Monk (1796) arms a man with "an iron crow and a pick-axe" to open a tomb, and Samuel Beckett's Watt (1953) lists a crow beside an axe and explosive as ways through a locked door.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Matthew Lewis wrote The Monk, first published in 1796. en.wikipedia.org
The narrator describes Ambrosio bringing an iron crow and a pick-axe to open Antonia's tomb. en.wikisource.org
Samuel Beckett wrote Watt, whose first edition appeared in 1953. search.worldcat.org
Watt lists an axe, a crow, and explosive as possible means of breaking through the door. en.wiktionary.org
The door in the Watt passage is locked. people.brandeis.edu

Less common meanings

6
nasty womannounderogatorycountable
A derogatory term for an ill-tempered, obstinate woman, especially one thought to resemble the bird; a harpy.
Neighbors whispered that the old crow upstairs complained about every noise.
He dismissed his critic as a bitter old crow.
UsageUsually old crow: a bitter old crow.
Similarshrew, witch, nag, harpy, hellcat
Note
George Horton's A Fair Brigand (1899) warns against marrying "some old crow" whom people will call a death's head, and a Woody Woodpecker cartoon, "Seal on the Loose" (1970), jeers at "an old crow in the window." The jibe targets age and looks as much as temper.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 4 facts
George Horton wrote A Fair Brigand, first published in 1899. openlibrary.org
A Fair Brigand contains a warning about marrying an old crow whom people would call a death's head. en.wiktionary.org
Seal on the Loose is a Woody Woodpecker cartoon released in 1970. en.wikipedia.org
Woody Woodpecker delivers the quoted insult to Mrs. Meany. en.wikiquote.org
7
adjectiverare
Of a dark black color, like that of a crow's feathers; crow-black.
Note
An uncommon adjective that sits before its noun, with hair as its natural subject. George Marsh's Ask No Quarter (1945) describes a woman's "lovely and wavy" crow hair, which she loathes. Because the word is rare and easily read as the bird, crow-black, which spells out the comparison, is often the clearer choice.
Checked 30 Oct 2026 · 2 facts
George Marsh wrote Ask No Quarter. en.wiktionary.org
The novel describes a woman's crow hair as lovely and wavy and says she loathes it. en.wiktionary.org
She shook out her crow hair and laughed.
The painter mixed a crow shade for the stallion's mane.
8
lookoutnounarchaic
A lookout who stands guard while accomplices carry out a crime.
“Ay,” put in a young man, who had the reputation of being the smartest “crow” in London—“‘fishers of men,’ as the parson says.”
1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of his Natural Life
By nine o'clock on the evening of November 12, 1854, Pierce had his confederates in their places. The crow, Agar's woman, lounged across the street from the Trent mansion.
1975, Michael Crichton, The Great Train Robbery
Note
Old thieves' slang, now rare and kept alive mostly by fiction set in the criminal past. Marcus Clarke's convict novel For the Term of His Natural Life calls a sharp young man the smartest "crow" in London. Michael Crichton's The Great Train Robbery (1975) gives the job to Agar's woman, lounging across the street in 1854.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
Crow is historically attested as thieves' slang for a lookout. gutenberg.org
Marcus Clarke wrote For the Term of His Natural Life, a novel about convicts. gutenberg.org
The narrator describes a young man as having the reputation of being London's smartest crow. gutenberg.org
Michael Crichton wrote The Great Train Robbery, first published in 1975. openlibrary.org
In a scene dated 1854, Agar's woman acts as the crow across the street. en.wiktionary.org
9
racial slurnounslangethnicoffensiveslurcountable
An extremely offensive racial slur for a Black person.
UsageSay Black person instead.
Note
A racial slur, offensive in any use and never a neutral alternative. Unlike the color adjective, which describes hair or plumage, this use targets people, and no context makes it a description.
10
noun
A butterfly of the genus Euploea, one of a group of dark-colored nymphalids.
11
nounslang
An eagle emblem worn as a sign of military rank.
12
verb
To blow a double reed on its own, without the instrument, to test it; of the reed, to give a sound when blown this way.
13
noun
A boarding bridge used by the ancient Roman navy to grapple and board enemy ships.
14
noun
In butchers' usage, the mesentery: the membrane that attaches an animal's intestines to the wall of the abdomen.

Practice

Can you tell the meanings of crow apart? Answer 3 quick questions from this page, or write your own sentence and AI will check it.

Origins

Meanings 1, 5–9

The name of the bird comes from Middle English crowe, from Old English crāwe, from Proto-Germanic *krēǭ (related to Dutch kraai and German Krähe), based on a root meaning "to crow."

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts

The bird name descends from Middle English crowe, Old English crāwe, and Proto-Germanic *krēǭ. en.wiktionary.org
The word is related to Dutch kraai and German Krähe. en.wiktionary.org
The bird name derives from a root meaning 'to crow'. en.wiktionary.org

Meanings 2–4

The verb comes from Middle English crowen, from Old English crāwan, from Proto-Germanic *krēaną, perhaps ultimately from an imitative root meaning "to cry hoarsely." The noun comes from the verb, and the word is related to croak.

Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 6 facts

The verb derives from Middle English crowen and Old English crāwan. en.wiktionary.org
The verb's Germanic ancestor is reconstructed as *krēaną. en.wiktionary.org
The Proto-Germanic verb may ultimately derive from a root meaning 'to cry hoarsely'. en.wiktionary.org
The proposed ultimate root is imitative. en.wiktionary.org
The noun denoting the crowing sound derives from the verb. en.wiktionary.org
Crow is etymologically related to croak. en.wiktionary.org