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# magpie

«magpie» in Mova's school dictionary: **A black-and-white bird with a long tail and a loud…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 4 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a magpie, magpies)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A black-and-white bird with a long tail and a loud chattering call, related to crows. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#m1)

2) (informal) A person who likes to collect small shiny or odd things. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science, magpies are clever birds of the crow family; in Europe the magpie is black and white with blue-green shine, and the Australian magpie is a different bird known for swooping on people near its nest in spring — wear a hat and walk away calmly. In stories and old rhymes, magpies steal shiny things, though studies show they do not really love shiny objects. Phrases: «One for sorrow, two for joy» (a counting rhyme).

### examples

- A magpie hopped across the lawn. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x1)
- "One for sorrow, two for joy," we chanted when we saw the magpies. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x2)
- In spring, Australian magpies swoop at cyclists. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x3)
- Magpies are very clever birds. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x4)
- The magpie built a big messy nest in the tree. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x5)
- Grandma is a magpie who collects buttons. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x6)
- The magpie's tail is long and shiny. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x7)
- Magpies eat insects, seeds and even scraps. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x8)
- Then the prince started off with the lame magpie. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/#x9)

### note

Countable. Myth: magpies do not really steal shiny things more than other things. The magpie rhyme is a superstition, not a true way to tell the future.

### In the corpora

- [The old Magpie says "the night-air doesn't suit my throat", and a Canary calls its children to bed.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/6-alice-ch3-part2-a-long-tale/19/)
- [Australian magpies swoop people in spring to protect their nests.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/26-wild-animals/17/)
- [Every spring a magpie dive-bombs kids on the path by the park.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/458-magpies-geese-ponies-and-swans-animals-that-are-not-your-friends/0/)
- [Magpies can remember human faces, and people who throw things at them often get swooped more.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/458-magpies-geese-ponies-and-swans-animals-that-are-not-your-friends/27/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «magpie» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/M/magpie/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.