Definition of TURKEY

turkey

Plural: turkeys, turkies

Noun

  • A large North American fowl, often eaten for holidays.
  • large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food
  • a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923
  • a person who does something thoughtless or annoying
  • flesh of large domesticated fowl usually roasted
  • an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual
    • "the first experiment was a real turkey"
  • The guinea fowl (family Numididae).
  • A bird in the genus Meleagris with a fan-shaped tail and wattled neck, especially the wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo, now domesticated).
  • The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food.
  • With a distinguishing word: a bird resembling the Meleagris gallopavo (for example, the brush turkey or bush turkey (Alectura lathami), and the water turkey (Anhinga anhinga)).
  • An act of throwing three strikes in a row.
  • A patient feigning symptoms; a person faking illness or injury; a malingerer.
  • A pack carried by a lumberman; a bindle; also, a large travel bag, a suitcase.
  • A failure.
  • A foolish or inept person.
  • A prostitute.

Examples

  • All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch.
  • I almost played TURKEY, but then I saw a better word for double the points.
  • That film was a turkey.
  • The turkey cut in front of me and then berated me for running into him.

Origin / Etymology

Clipping of turkey-cock and turkey-hen (“(originally) the guinea fowl (family Numididae)”), which was imported to Europe by Turkey merchants through Turkey. The word was then applied to the larger northern American bird Meleagris gallopavo which was brought to Spain by conquistadors in 1523. This transfer of the name may have occurred because the two birds were considered similar to each other, or because the North American turkey was in part introduced through Ottoman territories, or simply to indicate that it was foreign.

Synonyms

bomb, dud, joker, Meleagris gallopavo, Republic of Turkey, Alternative spelling of dumbass., Boeotian, Charlie, Vulgar:, addle pate, addle-brain, addlehead, airhead, ass, assclown, asshat, asshead, asstard, asswipe, baboon, beanbrain, beetlebrain, beetlehead, berk, bimbo, birdbrain, blockhead, blubberbrain, bonehead, boob, bozo, brainlet, brickhead, bubble brain, bubblehead, bufflehead, buffoon, buttbreath, chowderhead, chucklehead, chump, cittern-head, clod, clodpate, clot, clown, crackhead, cretin, cuckoo, deadhead, dildo, dim bulb, dimbo, dimbus, dimwit, ding dong, dingbat, dingleberry, dingwad, dip, dipshit, dipstick, doldrum, dolt, donkey dick, donut, doodle, doof, doofoid, doofus, dope, dork, drivel, drongo, drool bucket, dullard, dumb bunny, dumb cluck, dumbbell, dumbfuck, dumbfucker, dumbhead, dumble, dumbling, dumbnut, dumbo, dumbshit, dummkopf, dummy, dunce, dunderhead, dunderpate, eejit, farthead, fathead, featherbrain, fenderhead, fleabrain, flop, fool, fopdoodle, fuck-knuckle, fucktard, fuckwit, galoot, gimboid, gomer, gonk, goober, goof, goofball, goofy, goose, goosecap, gorbuson, gudgeon, ha'porth, halfwit, hammerhead, ho, hoe, idiot, ignoramus, imbecile, inbred, jackaninny, jackass, jellybrain, jerk, juggins, jughead, knothead, knucklehead, lackwit, lamebrain, log, loggerhead, lummox, lunk, lunkhead, maroon, meatball, meathead, mental midget, mome, momo, mongoloid, mongtard, monkey, moron, mouth breather, muggins, mushhead, mutt, muttonhead, nimrod, nincompoop, ninny, ninnyhammer, nit, nitwit, noddy, noodlehead, numbskull, oaf, peabrain, peagoose, peckerhead, pigwidgeon, pillock, pinhead, plank, plonker, prat, put, putz, retard, sap, saphead, schmo, shitbrain, shithead, shitneck, shitwit, silly, simp, simpleton, snapperhead, sot, space cadet, spanner, stupe, stupid, stupid-head, tard, thickhead, thicko, thickskull, tomfool, tonto, toolbox, tosspot, turkey, twat, twit, wally, wantwit, wazzer, wazzock, witless wonder, yo-yo, zany

Scrabble Score: 13

turkey: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
turkey: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
turkey: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 13

turkey: valid Words With Friends Word