macaw

[ muh-kaw ]

/ məˈkɔ /

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noun

any of various large, long-tailed parrots of tropical and subtropical America, noted for their brilliant plumage and distinctive light-colored facial patches: of the six macaw genera, Ara includes the most familiar and greatest number of species, while Cyanopsitta has just one species, C. spixii(Spix's macaw ), a small, blue macaw, now classified as possibly extinct in the wild.

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Origin of macaw

First recorded in 1620–30; from Portuguese macao, macau, probably from macaúba from Tupi macahuba, equivalent to maca “palm” + ybá “tree”

Words nearby macaw

Macartney rose, Macassar, Macassar oil, Macáu, Macaulay, macaw, Macbeth, MacBride, Macc., Maccabaeus, Maccabean

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use macaw in a sentence

It’s very hot in the rainforests, and we were filming little poison dart frogs and scarlet macaws.
David Attenborough’s Life in Color - Issue 107: The Edge|Mary Ellen Hannibal|September 29, 2021|Nautilus
But those who had chosen the macaw, became the Macaw People.
Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest|Katharine Berry Judson
It consisted of a monologue delivered by the poisonous young woman to the macaw, occasionally varied by ad lib.
The Book of Susan|Lee Wilson Dodd
One could hardly call him a crimson macaw among owls, and yet no ordinary contrast availed.
The Education of Henry Adams|Henry Adams

Next morning a kangaroo and a macaw strolled into Raikes's bedroom.
Atlantic Classics|Various
On the top of the next tree sat an extraordinary-looking bird, about the size of a pheasant, colored blue and rose like a macaw.
In the Morning of Time|Charles G. D. Roberts

British Dictionary definitions for macaw

macaw

/ (məˈkɔː) /

noun

any large tropical American parrot of the genera Ara and Anodorhynchus, having a long tail and brilliant plumage

Word Origin for macaw

C17: from Portuguese macau, of unknown origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012