magpie : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: magpie	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for magpie
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
magpie n long-tailed black-and-white crow that utters a raucous chattering call someone who collects things that have been discarded by others Synonym(s): magpie, scavenger, pack rat an obnoxious and foolish and loquacious talker Synonym(s): chatterer, babbler, prater, chatterbox, magpie, spouter
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Magpie \Mag"pie\, n. [OE. & Prov. E. magot pie, maggoty pie, fr. Mag, Maggot, equiv. to Margaret, and fr. F. Marquerite, and common name of the magpie. Marguerite is fr. L. margarita pearl, Gr. [?], prob. of Eastern origin. See {Pie} magpie, and cf. the analogous names {Tomtit}, and {Jackdaw}.] (Zo[94]l.) Any one of numerous species of the genus {Pica} and related genera, allied to the jays, but having a long graduated tail. Note: The common European magpie ({Pica pica}, or {P. caudata}) is a black and white noisy and mischievous bird. It can be taught to speak. The American magpie ({P. Hudsonica}) is very similar. The yellow-belled magpie ({P. Nuttalli}) inhabits California. The blue magpie ({Cyanopolius Cooki}) inhabits Spain. Other allied species are found in Asia. The Tasmanian and Australian magpies are crow shrikes, as the white magpie ({Gymnorhina organicum}), the black magpie ({Strepera fuliginosa}), and the Australian magpie ({Cracticus picatus}). {Magpie lark} (Zo[94]l.), a common Australian bird ({Grallina picata}), conspicuously marked with black and white; -- called also {little magpie}. {Magpie moth} (Zo[94]l.), a black and white European geometrid moth ({Abraxas grossulariata}); the harlequin moth. Its larva feeds on currant and gooseberry bushes.