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homing pigeon. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
homing pigeon, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
homing pigeon in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Noun
homing pigeon (plural homing pigeons)
- A variety of domesticated rock pigeon (Columba livia) that has been selectively bred to be able to find its way home over extremely long distances.
2023 September 30, Hannah Murphy, quoting Linda Yaccarino, “The wildest job in Silicon Valley”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 17:In her telling, she sought Musk out after the deal closed, pressing him to meet and discuss how she could make NBCUniversal a bigger media partner “via email, text, I may have been considering a homing pigeon”.
Usage notes
- The term carrier pigeon is often used, especially in newspaper and magazine articles, for a homing pigeon or racing pigeon that carries messages. Many pigeon fanciers (particularly homer men and homer women) consider this to be a misnomer because the term is outdated and originally referred to the ancestors of present-day Old English carriers. These "carrier pigeons" were formerly used to carry messages before the modern homing pigeon was developed in the 1800s (initially in Belgium and Britain), but is today strictly an exhibition pigeon or show pigeon that has mostly lost its strong homing instinct. The "carrier pigeon" was also one of the breeds used to develop the modern homing pigeon and therefore does have some "carrier blood" in it.
Synonyms
Related terms
Terms etymologically related to homing pigeon
Translations
domesticated rock pigeon with strong homing instinct
References
- ^ The Carrier, or certainly the Horseman, was the first breed used in England for message-bearing purposes. The name, “Carrier Pigeon,” is still used today erroneously by many writers, especially in newspapers and periodicals, to describe the true Racing Homer. The Carrier today has been developed into a show bird alone, its homing propensities having long since ceased to be developed. — Wendell M. Levi, The Pigeon, 1941 (Renewed 1968), 1946, 1957, and 1963; p57.