beak
noun · verb
Simple meaning
A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
beekIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbik
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
anatomy
A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc.
anatomy
The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.
anatomy
A similar pointed structure forming the nose and mouth of various animals, such as turtles, platypuses, whales, etc.
anatomy
Horny projecting mouth of a bird
by extension
Anything projecting or ending in a point like a beak, such as a promontory of land.
anatomybotany
Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.
verb
transitive
To strike with the beak.
transitive
To seize with the beak.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.
Used this way, beak is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a clinical use: it belongs to medical description, where it is factual rather than emotive.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Medicine/healthcare
- Science
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Nearby words
- neb , used mainly in Regional English
- nib , used mainly in Regional English
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.