Meaning & use
turkey
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Meanings
nouncountable
A large bird with a fan-shaped tail, farmed for its meat and often eaten at Thanksgiving.
Grammar: Countable when referring to the bird: 'a turkey', 'two turkeys'.
Patterns
- roast turkey
- a flock of turkeys
- turkey dinner
We had roast turkey with all the trimmings for Thanksgiving.
The farmer raised turkeys for the holiday market.
A wild turkey strutted across the field.
noununcountable
The meat of this bird eaten as food.
Grammar: Uncountable when referring to the meat: 'some turkey', not 'a turkey'.
Patterns
- sliced turkey
- turkey sandwich
- cold turkey
I'll have a turkey sandwich with lettuce and tomato.
She bought sliced turkey for the kids' lunches.
There's still some turkey left from dinner.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
Something that fails badly, such as a film, play, or plan.
Grammar: Countable; often used with 'a' or 'the': 'The film was a turkey.'
Patterns
- a real turkey
- the movie was a turkey
The critics called the new musical a turkey.
His first business venture was a turkey and lost money.
The sequel was a complete turkey—no one liked it.
Word forms
| plural | turkeys |
|---|
Common combinations
- roast turkey
- Roast turkey is the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner.
- turkey sandwich
- I grabbed a turkey sandwich for lunch.
- cold turkey
- He quit smoking cold turkey.
- talk turkey
- Let's talk turkey about the budget.
- a turkey of a movie
- It was a turkey of a movie, boring and badly acted.
Synonyms and how they differ
- flop
- A failure, especially a film or show; 'turkey' is more informal and often humorous.
- failure
- A general word for something that does not succeed; 'turkey' is slang and suggests ridicule.
- fowl
- A general term for birds used as food; 'turkey' is a specific type.
Opposites
Word family
- turkey noun
- The bird or its meat.
Commonly confused: turkey or Turkey?
turkey vs Turkey
The country is spelled with a capital T; the bird is lowercase.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'turkey' correctly to mean a failure?
Choose one answer.
In informal English, a 'turkey' can be a failure, especially a show or film. The other options refer to the bird or its meat.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “turkey”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.