vulture

noun

vul·​ture ˈvəl-chər How to pronounce vulture (audio)
1
: any of various large birds (families Accipitridae and Cathartidae) that are related to the hawks, eagles, and falcons but have weaker claws and the head usually naked and that subsist chiefly or entirely on carrion
2
: a rapacious or predatory person
vulturish adjective

Examples of vulture in a Sentence

As soon as they learned of his arrest, the media vultures started circling. noted that the paparazzi are vultures who could not exist without the connivance of the tabloid-buying public
Recent Examples on the Web
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Tags: vulture cinematrix cinematrix games vulture games cinematrix archive More Leave a Comment Latest News from Vulture box office report card 7:15 p.m. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Vulture, 11 Apr. 2025 While Waldrop favored raptors — more than half of the collection included hawks, eagles, vultures, falcons, and owls — investigators also noted dozens of duck mounts in the collection. Natalie Krebs, Outdoor Life, 10 Apr. 2025 This vulture feather will not only teach scientists more about that bird but represents an indicator of where to look for more such specimens. Paul Smaglik, Discover Magazine, 18 Mar. 2025 Avoiding those problems, Feinberg carved out a niche as a distressed investor, less politely referred to as a vulture, who knew how to find meat on the bones of decaying businesses. Dan Alexander, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for vulture

Word History

Etymology

Middle English vultur, from Anglo-French, from Latin

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of vulture was in the 14th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Vulture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vulture. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

Kids Definition

vulture

noun
vul·​ture ˈvəl-chər How to pronounce vulture (audio)
1
: any of various large birds that feed mostly on animals found dead and that are related to the hawks and eagles but have weaker claws and the head usually naked
2
: a greedy or predatory person

More from Merriam-Webster on vulture

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