peckerwood
(redirected from peckerwoods)Also found in: Thesaurus, Idioms.
peck·er·wood
(pĕk′ər-wo͝od′)n. Chiefly Southern US
1. A woodpecker.
2. Offensive Slang Used as a disparaging term for a poor white person.
[Alteration (by transposition of the two members of the compound) of woodpecker.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
peckerwood
(ˈpɛkərˌwʊd)n
1. (Animals) a woodpecker
2. Black slang offensive a White person, esp one from the southern states of the United States
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
poor′ white′
n.
usage: This term is usually used with disparaging intent and perceived as insulting. However, sometimes it is merely a neutral descriptive term.
—n. Usually Disparaging and Offensive. (a term used to refer to a white person, esp. of the southern U.S., having low social status and little or no money, property, or education.)
[1810–20, Amer.]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
| Noun | 1. |  peckerwood - bird with strong claws and a stiff tail adapted for climbing and a hard chisel-like bill for boring into wood for insectspiciform bird - any of numerous nonpasserine insectivorous climbing birds usually having strong bills for boring wood family Picidae, Picidae - woodpeckers green woodpecker, Picus viridis - woodpecker of Europe and western Asia downy woodpecker - small North American woodpecker with black and white plumage and a small bill flicker - North American woodpecker Campephilus principalis, ivorybill, ivory-billed woodpecker - large black-and-white woodpecker of southern United States and Cuba having an ivory bill; nearly extinct Melanerpes erythrocephalus, redheaded woodpecker, redhead - black-and-white North American woodpecker having a red head and neck sapsucker - small American woodpecker that feeds on sap from e.g. apple and maple trees wryneck - Old World woodpecker with a peculiar habit of twisting the neck piculet - small woodpeckers of South America and Africa and East Indies having soft rounded tail feathers |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.