beak
n. countablen. the hard, pointed part of a bird's mouth. It is used for eating, picking things up, and sometimes for fighting.
n. the hard, projecting mouthpart of a bird, consisting of an upper and lower mandible covered in a horny sheath.
The eagle used its sharp beak to tear the meat.
The scientist observed how the bird's beak was perfectly shaped for cracking open tough seeds.
Evolutionary biologists often study the variation in beak morphology among finches to understand how different species adapted to specific food sources on the islands.
From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish bekkos, from Proto-Celtic bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European bak-, baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).
Unknown; originally cant; first recorded in 17thC; probably related to obsolete cant beck "constable".
Commonly refers to birds, though also used for certain other animals like turtles or octopuses.