crow

Crow

I. Crow BrE AmE noun
1. the Crow [P] a Native American tribe that now lives in southern Montana
2. [countable] a member of this tribe ⇨ ↑Native American
—Crow adjective:
a Crow chief
II. Crow, Jim BrE AmE
⇨ ↑Jim Crow

crow

I. crow¹ /krəʊ $ kroʊ/ BrE AmE noun
[Sense 1,3: Language: Old English; Origin: crawe]
[Sense 2: Date: 1200-1300; Origin: ⇨ ↑crow²]
1. [countable] a large shiny black bird with a loud cry
2. [singular] the loud sound a ↑cock makes
3. as the crow flies in a straight line:
ten miles from here as the crow flies
⇨ eat crow at ↑eat(7)
II. crow² BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[Language: Old English; Origin: crawan]
1. if a ↑cock crows, it makes a loud high sound
2. to talk about what you have done in a very proud way – used to show disapproval
crow over/about
He was crowing over winning the bet.
3. written if someone, especially a baby, crows, they make a noise that shows they are happy:
Ben rushed to his father, crowing with pleasure.
• • •
THESAURU
▪ boast to talk too proudly about your abilities, achievements, or possessions because you want other people to admire you: She’s always boasting about how good she is at languages.
▪ brag to boast in a way that annoys other people. Brag is more informal than boast: He was bragging about how many girlfriends he had had. | I don’t think they have anything to brag about. | The rebels have repeatedly bragged that their fighters have been responsible for the mounting attacks on policemen, 226 of whom were killed last year.
▪ blow your own trumpet British English, blow your own horn American English spoken to talk a lot about your achievements – used especially when you want to mention your achievements but do not want to sound as if you are boasting: I don’t want to blow my own trumpet, but it was me who came up with the idea for the project in the first place.
▪ crow to boast about something you have achieved, when other people have been less lucky or successful: Nordstrom and his supporters are still crowing about winning the lawsuit.
▪ gloat to behave in a way that shows that you are proud of your own success and happy about someone else’s failure: The Australians are still gloating over their victory over England. | The liberals are gloating and celebrating all over town. | I haven’t come to gloat! We all have to lose sometimes.
▪ be full of yourself informal to show by your words and behaviour that you are very proud of your abilities and achievements - used when you dislike someone because of this: ‘He’s so full of himself,’ Constance complained. ‘He thinks he can get away with anything.’ | After the game she was really full of herself.