ostrich

1. 1.

   a person who refuses to face reality or recognize the truth (a reference to the popular notion that the ostrich hides from danger by burying its head in the sand)

   Broaderperson
2. 2.

   fast-running African flightless bird with two-toed feet; largest living bird

   SynonymsStruthio camelus

   Broaderratite

   Part ofStruthio

Other forms of ostrich

plural

ostriches·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about ostrich

What does ostrich mean?

ostrich means "a person who refuses to face reality or recognize the truth (a reference to the popular notion that the ostrich hides from danger by burying its head in the sand)". That is the primary sense; the word has 2 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in ostrich?

ostrich has 2 syllables: o-strich. The stress falls on "o". In IPA it is /ˈɔstɹɪtʃ/.

What is another word for ostrich?

Close synonyms include Struthio camelus. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is ostrich a common word?

ostrich is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.