turkey

plural turkeys · obsolete plural turkies · alternative obsolete turkie

1. countableobsoleteoriginallyThe guinea fowl (family Numididae).First known use c. 1600
2. A bird in the genus Meleagris, usually with a fan-shaped tail and wattled neck.
   1. countableA wild turkey of Meleagris gallopavo.
   2. countableA domesticated bird of Meleagris gallopavo domesticus.

      It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax.

      1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Five. The End of It.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 157

3. uncountableThe flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food.

   All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch.

4. countableWith 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)).
5. countablebowlingAn act of throwing three strikes in a row.
6. countablederogatoryslangmedicineA patient feigning symptoms; a person faking illness or injury; a malingerer.

   Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously.

   [1976, Stephen Charles Frankel, Emergency Medical Care in an Urban Area (Ph.D. dissertation in Anthropology), Berkeley, Calif.: University of California, Berkeley, →OCLC, page 118

7. AustraliaUScountabledatedslangA pack carried by a lumberman; a bindle; also, a large travel bag, a suitcase.First known use early 20th c.
8. UScountableslangA failure.

   That film was a turkey.

   2 more examples

   And despite the gross incompetence of Hemmings' direction, the ludicrous script, and the heavy-handed acting, there remains a stellar reason to see and enjoy Just a Gigolo: David Bowie. David Bowie is a great actor, and not even this turkey can obscure that fact.

   1981 August 8, Rob Schmieder, “Starring Bowie and Berlin”, in Gay Community News, page 11

   There were a few turkeys. In the rush to present a futuristic vision, the railways' heritage was largely forgotten and we ended up with new stations at Euston and at Coventry, its brash sidekick which I particularly loathe, although (of course) it won design awards.

   2021 April 7, Christian Wolmar, “Electrification is a given... but comfort matters as well”, in RAIL, number 928, page 46

   Synonyms: flop

9. UScountablederogatorymildlyslangusuallyA foolish or inept person.

   The turkey cut in front of me and then berated me for running into him.

   Synonyms: addle-brain, addlehead, addle pate, airhead, baboon, beanbrain, beetlebrain, beetlehead

10. derogatoryslangAfrican-American Vernacular; Baltimore; African-American Vernacular; BaltimoreA prostitute.

    Shorty think she slick, but everybody know she a turkey.

    Synonyms: ho, hoe

alternative Türkiye · alternative informal Turkiye

1. A country located in Eastern Thrace in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia in West Asia. Official name: Republic of Türkiye. Capital: Ankara.

   This isn’t the first time she has hidden a weight-loss management attempt from her husband. “I went to Turkey and had a gastric balloon, and I didn’t tell anyone, not even him,” she says.

   2025 May 11, Imogen West-Knights, “‘I lost so much weight, my husband thought I was terminally ill’: why do people lie about taking Ozempic?”, in The Guardian, →ISSN

   1 more example

   One Terrorgram user livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside of a mosque in Turkey, she said, and a 19-year-old Slovakian man praised the group in a manifesto before killing two people at an LGBTQ bar in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

   2024 September 9, Hannah Rabinowitz, “Alleged leaders of White supremacist group charged in effort to encourage terrorism and hate crimes”, in CNN

   Synonyms: Türkiye, Turkiye, Republic of Turkey

2. historicalSynonym of Ottoman Empire, a former empire in Europe, Asia, Africa. Capital: Istanbul.

   Synonyms: Ottoman Empire

3. A city in Hall County, Texas, United States.

alternative Türkiye · alternative informal Turkiye

1. uncountableSynonym of Turkey red (“a vibrant red dye or its color”).

   Synonyms: Turkey red

2. obsoleteuncountableSynonym of Turkey blue (“a deep indigo dye or its color”).

   Synonyms: Turkey blue

comparative more Turkey · superlative most Turkey · alternative Türkiye · alternative informal Turkiye

1. Synonym of Turkey red (“dyed or colored Turkey red”).

   Synonyms: Turkey red

2. obsoleteSynonym of Turkey blue (“dyed or colored Turkey blue”).

   Synonyms: Turkey blue