Beak vs. Neb — What's the Difference?

The beak, bill, and/or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in non-avian dinosaurs and some mammals. A beak is used for eating and for preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young.

A beak of a bird.

A bird's horny projecting jaws; a bill

A nose or snout.

A magistrate or a schoolmaster.

A projecting part, especially a nib.

The bill of a bird, especially one that is strong and curved, such as that of a hawk or a finch.

A bird's beak or bill.

A similar structure in other animals, such as turtles, insects, or fish.

(obsolete) A person's mouth.

A usually firm, tapering tip on certain plant structures, such as some seeds and fruits.

A person's nose.

The spout of a pitcher.

The peak of a flat cap.

A metal or metal-clad ram projecting from the bow of an ancient warship.

The nose or snout of an animal, now especially of a fish.

(Informal)The human nose.

A projecting extremity; a point or sharp projection.

A schoolmaster.

A nib, as of a pen.

A judge.

The nose; the snout; the mouth; the beak of a bird; a nib, as of a pen.

Anatomical uses.

A long projecting or anterior elongation of an animal's head; especially the nose

A rigid structure projecting from the front of a bird's face, used for pecking, grooming, foraging, carrying items, eating food, etc.

Horny projecting mouth of a bird

A similar structure forming the jaws of a turtle, platypus, etc.

The long projecting sucking mouth of some insects and other invertebrates, as in the Hemiptera.

The upper or projecting part of the shell, near the hinge of a bivalve.

The prolongation of certain univalve shells containing the canal.

(botany) Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.

Figurative uses.

Anything projecting or ending in a point like a beak, such as a promontory of land.

(architecture) A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.

(farriery) A toe clip.

(nautical) That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.

(nautical) A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, used as a ram to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.

(entomology) Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Libythea, notable for the beak-like elongation on their heads.

Colloquial uses.

(slang) The human nose, especially one that is large and pointed.

Cocaine.

A justice of the peace; a magistrate.

A schoolmaster (originally, at Eton).

(transitive) Strike with the beak.

(transitive) Seize with the beak.

To play truant.

The bill or nib of a bird, consisting of a horny sheath, covering the jaws. The form varies much according to the food and habits of the bird, and is largely used in the classification of birds.

Anything projecting or ending in a point, like a beak, as a promontory of land.

A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, in order to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.

That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.

A continuous slight projection ending in an arris or narrow fillet; that part of a drip from which the water is thrown off.

Any process somewhat like the beak of a bird, terminating the fruit or other parts of a plant.

A magistrate or policeman.

Beaklike mouth of animals other than birds (e.g., turtles)

Horny projecting mouth of a bird

Informal terms for the nose

Hit lightly with a picking motion