a dove

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A bird with a round body and short legs that makes a soft cooing sound and is often used as a symbol of peace.

   Grammar: Countable: one dove, two doves; the plural is doves, not doves'.

   Patterns

   • a white dove
   • a dove cooing
   • release a dove

   A white dove landed on the fence and cooed softly.

   The couple released a dove at their wedding as a sign of peace.

   We could hear a dove calling from the trees behind the house.

2. 2nouncountablefigurative

   A person who prefers to settle disagreements by talking rather than fighting; the opposite of a hawk.

   Grammar: Often used in political writing: the doves wanted talks, the hawks wanted war.

   Patterns

   • a dove in the party
   • the doves and the hawks

   She is seen as a dove who would rather negotiate than send troops.

   The doves in Congress pushed for a diplomatic solution.

Word forms

Common combinations

a dove of peace

The painting shows a dove of peace above the ruins.

coo like a dove

The baby cooed like a dove in her mother's arms.

turtle dove

A turtle dove perched on the telephone wire.

release a dove

At the opening ceremony they released a dove into the sky.

a dove's wing

Sunlight shone through a dove's wing.

Synonyms and how they differ

pigeon

A pigeon is the same family of bird but usually larger and gray; dove sounds softer and is the word used for symbols of peace.

Opposites

Word family

dovish adjective

Wanting peace and negotiation rather than force, as in a dovish policy.

Commonly confused: a dove or dive?

Practice

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Write a sentence using “a dove”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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