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Crow 1 (krō)
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n. pl. Crow or Crows
1. A member of a Native American people formerly inhabiting an area of the northern Great Plains between the Platte and Yellowstone Rivers, now located in southeast Montana. The Crow became nomadic buffalo hunters after migrating west from the Missouri River in North Dakota in the 18th century.
2. The Siouan language of the Crow.

[Translation of terms for the Crow people in many Native American languages, such as Lakota, Yanktonai, and Santee khąγí wičhasa, crow man : khąγí , crow + wičhasa, man.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
crow 1 (krō)
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n.
1. Any of several large glossy black birds of the genus Corvus, having a characteristic raucous call, especially C. brachyrhynchos of North America.
2. A crowbar.
Idiom:
as the crow flies
In a straight line.

[Middle English croue, from Old English crāwe; see gerə-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots. Sense 2, from the resemblance of its forked end to a crow's foot or beak.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Crow 2 (krō)
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n.
See Corvus.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
crow 2 (krō)
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intr.v. crowed, crow·ing, crows
1. To utter the shrill cry characteristic of a rooster.
2. To exult over an accomplishment or piece of good fortune; boast. See Synonyms at boast1.
3. To make a sound expressive of pleasure or well-being, characteristic of an infant.
n.
1. The shrill cry of a rooster.
2. An inarticulate sound expressive of pleasure or delight.

[Middle English crouen, from Old English crāwan; see gerə-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.