neb
/neb/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Noun:
- A bird's beak or bill: The hard, pointed, projecting mouthpart of a bird, used for eating, grooming, and manipulating objects.
- An animal's snout or nose: A projecting nose or muzzle, especially of a mammal.
- A pointed tip or end: The projecting point or tip of an object.
Examples of Usage
- Noun:
- The sparrow used its sharp neb to crack open the seed.
- The dog's wet neb nudged my hand.
- He dipped the neb of his pen into the inkwell.
Advanced Usage
- "by neb": An archaic or dialectal phrase meaning by the nose or by the beak.
- The falcon was held by neb and claw.
- "neb of the morning": A poetic or archaic term for the dawn or first light.
- We set out at the neb of the morning.
Variants and Related Words
- Nebby (adj, chiefly Scottish & Northern English): Inquisitive, nosy.
- Don't be so nebby about your neighbors' affairs.
- Nebbed (adj): Having a beak or point of a specified kind.
- The sharp-nebbed bird pecked at the wood.
Synonyms
- Beak: The horny projecting jaws of a bird.
- Bill: Another term for a bird's beak.
- Snout: The projecting nose and mouth of an animal.
- Nose: The part projecting above the mouth on the face of a person or animal.
- Nib: The pointed end part of a pen.
Related Phrases
- Neb and feathers: An old phrase referring to the whole bird, from beak to tail.
- The taxidermist preserved the specimen, neb and feathers.
- To neb out: To protrude or stick out like a beak or point.
- The cliff nebs out over the sea.
Related Idioms
- As sharp as a neb: Very sharp or perceptive.
- Her wit is as sharp as a neb.
- To follow one's neb: To go wherever one's nose leads; to wander aimlessly.
- With no map, we just followed our neb through the hills.
Noun
- horny projecting mouth of a bird
- a long projecting or anterior elongation of an animal's head; especially the nose