magpie
To mark with patches of black and white or light and darkTo mark with patches of black and white or light and dark.
» It's a very intelligent bird, but it's not a magpie at all; it's a jackdaw.
Це дуже розумний птах, але це зовсім не сорока. Це галка. — deniko
maaster · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
3 senses(transitive)To mark with patches of black and white or light and dark.
(ambitransitive)To steal or hoard (items) as magpies are believed to do.
(intransitive)To talk idly; to talk about other people's private business.
Examples
34 sentencesIt's a very intelligent bird, but it's not a magpie at all; it's a jackdaw.
Це дуже розумний птах, але це зовсім не сорока. Це галка. — deniko
The magpie collects everything that glitters.
deDie Elster sammelt alles, was glitzert. — Luiaard
Eurasian magpies pass the mirror test.
This magpie is a real chatterbox.
Do magpies really steal things from humans?
ruЭто правда, что сороки воруют у людей вещи? — marafon
Origin
From Mag, a nickname for Margaret that was used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie (“magFrom Mag, a nickname for Margaret that was used to denote a chatterer, + archaic pie (“magpie”), from Middle English pie, pye, from Old French pie, from Latin pīca, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)peyk- (“woodpecker, magpie”). Displaced native Old English agu (“magpie”) and Middle English aguster (“magpie”), whence English haggister.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
magpies, magpieing, magpied, magpiedSynonyms
3 synonymsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle