Other forms: birdies
A birdie is a hole finished one stroke under the expected number. Make a birdie, a birdie putt, three birdies.
The scoring names run eagle for two under, birdie for one under, par for level and bogey for one over — and birdie came first, from American slang where a bird meant anything excellent. In badminton, a birdie is the shuttlecock, which is a different sport and a different word. Note watch the birdie, the old phrase used to make people look at a camera.
1nounbirdieA hole finished one stroke under the expected number.
“She holed a long putt for a birdie on the last hole.”
2nounshuttlecockThe shuttlecock in badminton.
“The birdie weighs roughly five grams.”
birdie is a golf score, or a shuttlecock.
Middle English
brid
English
bird
English, today
birdie
From bird + -ie. bird comes from Middle English brid. From Middle English bird, brid, from Old English bridd (“chick, fledgling, chicken”), of unknown origin (see bridd for more). Originally from a term used of birds that could not fly (chicks, fledglings, chickens) as opposed to the general Old English term for flying birds, fugol (modern fowl). Gradually replaced fowl as the most common term starting in the 14th century. The "booing/jeering" and "vulgar hand gesture" senses derived from the expression “to give the big bird”, as in “to hiss someone like a goose”, dated in the mid‐18th century.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA