crows

Noun

crow (plural crows)

1. A bird, usually black, of the genus Corvus, having a strong conical beak, with projecting bristles; it has a harsh, croaking call.
   • Gaslark in his splendour on the golden stairs saying adieu to those three captains and their matchless armament foredoomed to dogs and crows on Salapanta Hills.1922, E.R. Eddison, The Worm Ouroborus
2. Any of various dark-coloured nymphalid butterflies of the genus Euploea.
3. A bar of iron with a beak, crook or claw; a bar of iron used as a lever; a crowbar.
   • He approached the humble tomb in which Antonia reposed. He had provided himself with an iron crow and a pick-axe: but this precaution was unnecessary.1796, Matthew Lewis, The Monk, Folio Society, published 1985, page 267

   Synonyms:

   crowbar

4. (archaic, slang) Someone who keeps watch while their associates commit a crime; a lookout.
   • “Ay,” put in a young man, who had the reputation of being the smartest “crow” in London—“‘fishers of men,’ as the parson says.”1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of his Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 53
5. (historical) A gangplank (corvus) used by the Ancient Roman navy to board enemy ships.
6. (among butchers) The mesentery of an animal.

See all 18 meanings of crow