Word.ws English Dictionary

giving the bird

giving the bird is the present participle and gerund of give the bird.

Meaning of give the bird

Verb

give the bird (third-person singular simple present gives the bird, present participle giving the bird, simple past gave the bird, past participle given the bird)

  1. Synonym of flip the bird.
    • Keeping up foreign relations. You know, giving him the bird!1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Maverick (Tom Cruise)
    Synonyms:
    flip the bird
  2. (UK) To boo and jeer (at someone), especially to express displeasure at a performer.
    • The crowd was giving the bird to the warm-up act.

Questions about giving the bird

What is giving the bird the present participle and gerund of?
Giving the bird is the present participle and gerund of give the bird.

Words near giving the bird in the dictionary

  1. giving something a whirl
  2. giving something up as a bad job
  3. giving suck
  4. giving the ax
  5. giving the axe
  6. giving the bird
  7. giving the devil his due
  8. giving the dirts
  9. giving the elbow
  10. giving the finger
  11. giving the floor

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: giving the bird (page history and authors); give the bird (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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