king vulture

American

noun

a large, black-and-white vulture, Sarcorhamphus papa, of Central and South America, having colorful wattles and wartlike protuberances on its head and neck.

Etymology

Origin of king vulture

First recorded in 1880–85

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"We would like to see the Asian king vulture soar once again through the skies of Thailand," he said.

From Reuters

John likes things like king vultures and alligators.

From Literature

You also sometimes get king vultures there - but the only vulture these days at Bharatpur are Egyptian vultures.

From BBC

His king vulture, Maloney, lovingly groomed his mustache with its enormous beak.

From The New Yorker

With these he wore a wampum belt, and a fillet encircled his head, above which rose erect three plumes from the tail of the king vulture—which among Indians is an eagle.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023