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magpie definition

mag·pie (mag′pī′)

noun

  1. any of several jaylike corvids, passerine birds characterized by black-and-white coloring, a long, tapering tail, and a habit of noisy chattering
  2. a person who chatters
  3. a person who collects odds and ends

Etymology: < Mag, dim. of Margaret + pie

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

magpie Synonyms

magpie

n.

  1. Gossip

    chatterer, windbag, idle talker; see gossip 2.

  2. Black and white bird

    jackdaw, jay, crow, raven; see bird 1.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

magpie Usage Examples

Possessives

  • nest: Make no mistake, only an erudite writer could have held together such a magpie's nest of brilliant ideas.

Converse of object

  • crow: Little ringed plovers have nested on these islands since 1997, in spite of heavy predation from crows, magpies and herons.

Preposition: at

  • bay: Time and again the Swindon defense were hard pushed to keep the rampant Magpies at bay.

Adjective modifier

  • azure-winged: Large numbers of Azure-winged Magpies fed in the surrounding olive groves, with a flock of at least 70 seen going to roost.

Modifies a noun

  • robin: Star billing goes to the magpie robin, seventh rarest bird in the world, for whom Frégate was once the last refuge.
magpie usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

magpie quotes

Thou art a beaten dog beneath the hail, A swollen magpie in a fitful sun, Half black half white Nor knowst'ou wing from tail Pull down thy vanity.

-Pound, Ezra Loomis

magpie quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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MLA Style

"magpie." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/magpie>

APA Style

magpie. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/magpie

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