This week’s theme
Words derived from animals

This week’s words
black dog
gobemouche
mooncalf
pork barrel
railbird


This week’s comments
AWADmail 828

Next week’s theme
Words made using combining forms

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(RAYL-buhrd)

MEANING:

noun:
1. A horse-racing enthusiast.
2. A spectator at a contest.
3. An observer who offers uninvited advice or criticism.

ETYMOLOGY:

A railbird is someone who watches horse races or training sessions from the railing along the track. Bird is slang for a person with a specific character, a peculiar person. Earliest documented use: 1793.

USAGE:

“A lot of railbirds surrounded one of the tables. She couldn’t see who was playing but she sensed at once that it was a money game.”
Richard Koff; Runout; iUniverse; 2003.

See more usage examples of railbird in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: