Ma*caw" (?), n. [From the native name in the Antilles.] (Zoöl.)
Any parrot of the genus Sittace, or Macrocercus. About eighteen species are known, all of them American. They are large and have a very long tail, a strong hooked bill, and a naked space around the eyes. The voice is harsh, and the colors are brilliant and strongly contrasted.
Macaw bush (Bot.), a West Indian name for a prickly kind of nightshade (Solanum mammosum). --
Macaw palm, Macaw tree (Bot.), a tropical American palm (Acrocomia fusiformis and other species) having a prickly stem and pinnately divided leaves. Its nut yields a yellow butter, with the perfume of violets, which is used in making violet soap. Called also grugru palm.
© Webster 1913