Definition of "cuckoo" [cuck•oo]

• A grayish European bird (Cuculus canorus) that has a characteristic two-note call and lays its eggs in the nests of birds of other species. (noun)
• Any of various related birds of the family Cuculidae, having grayish-brown plumage and a slender body. (noun)
• The call or cry of one of these birds. (noun)
• Slang A foolish or crazy person. (noun)
• To repeat incessantly, as a cuckoo does its call. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Some of his inventions are based on the technology used in cuckoo clocks, mechanical toys, piano rolls, and player pianos."
• "But cuckoo is a very simple call? it could be that one of the reasons why it is such a simple call is precisely because of the phenomenon they describe."
• "“The cuckoo is a pretty bird, she sings as she flies, she brings us good tidings and she tells us no lies” went the song, and Michael recalled that Mary Bright had sounded much sweeter than any bird when she sang that song."