English Dictionary

PLUMAGE

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IPA (US): 

 Dictionary entry overview: What does plumage mean? 

PLUMAGE (noun)
  The noun PLUMAGE has 1 sense:

1. the light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birdsplay

  Familiarity information: PLUMAGE used as a noun is very rare.


 Dictionary entry details 


PLUMAGE (noun)


Sense 1

Meaning:

The light horny waterproof structure forming the external covering of birds

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

feather; plumage; plume

Hypernyms ("plumage" is a kind of...):

body covering (any covering for the body or a body part)

animal material (material derived from animals)

Meronyms (parts of "plumage"):

vane; web (the flattened weblike part of a feather consisting of a series of barbs on either side of the shaft)

calamus; quill; shaft (the hollow spine of a feather)

Meronyms (substance of "plumage"):

ceratin; keratin (a fibrous scleroprotein that occurs in the outer layer of the skin and in horny tissues such as hair, feathers, nails, and hooves)

melanin (insoluble pigments that account for the color of e.g. skin and scales and feathers)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plumage"):

down; down feather (soft fine feathers)

aftershaft (a supplementary feather (usually small) on the underside of the base of the shaft of some feathers in some birds)

contour feather (feathers covering the body of an adult bird and determining its shape)

alula; bastard wing; spurious wing (tuft of small stiff feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing)

marabou (the downy feathers of marabou storks are used for trimming garments)

hackle (long slender feather on the necks of e.g. turkeys and pheasants)

flight feather; pinion; quill; quill feather (any of the larger wing or tail feathers of a bird)

scapular (a feather covering the shoulder of a bird)

Holonyms ("plumage" is a part of...):

bird (warm-blooded egg-laying vertebrates characterized by feathers and forelimbs modified as wings)


 Context examples 


I could not eat the tart; and the plumage of the bird, the tints of the flowers, seemed strangely faded: I put both plate and tart away.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The researchers suggested that, even though this is the tail of a young dinosaur, the sample shows adult plumage and not a chick's down.

(Scientists find dinosaur feathers preserved in amber, Wikinews)

"The sense of smell has been understudied in birds, particularly songbirds, because they frequently have such impressive plumage and song variation," says Rice.

(Scent brings songbirds to the yard, National Science Foundation)

The parrot sat, preening her plumage, on Long John's shoulder.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Remnants of the creature's plumage and tissues were well-preserved, allowing researchers to slowly piece together the history and form of the unusual dinosaur,.

(Second Bat-Like Dinosaur Discovered in China, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Banks of gorgeous flowers were on every hand, and birds with rare and brilliant plumage sang and fluttered in the trees and bushes.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

The greater honeyguide is widely found in sub-Saharan Africa, where its unassuming brown plumage belies its complex interactions with other species.

(How humans and wild Honeyguide birds call each other to help, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

His head was sunk upon his breast, and he looked from my point of view like a strange, lank bird, with dull grey plumage and a black top-knot.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Male birds of species that form long-lasting pair-bonds often continue to make elaborate displays of plumage, color and dance after they mate with a female, encouraging the female to invest more energy into their brood.

(For species that mate for life, bonding behaviors provide advantages, National Science Foundation)

When we had those meetings in the garden of the square, and sat within the dingy summer-house, so happy, that I love the London sparrows to this hour, for nothing else, and see the plumage of the tropics in their smoky feathers!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)



 Learn English with... Proverbs 
"Give the Devil his due." (English proverb)

"Let sleeping dogs lie." (Agatha Christie)

"Ones neighbours problems, does not induce one to lose their appetite over them." (Zimbabwean proverb)

"Theory dominates practice." (Corsican proverb)



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