▪ I. vulture, n.
(ˈvʌltjʊə(r))
Forms: α. 4 volture, 5 vowlture, 4– vulture (5 fulture), 5 voultour, 7 vultour. β. 4–9 vultur, 5 wltur, fultur, vowtur. γ. 4 vultre, 5 w(u)ltre, vowtre; 4, 6–7 vulter, 6 voulter, vultar, 7 volter.
[a. AF. vultur and voutre, OF. voltour, voultour, voutour (F. vautour), or L. vultur, or ad. L. vulturius. The OF. forms, like Pr. voltor, voutor, and It. avoltore, avoltojo, represent L. vulturi-us, while AF. voutre, Sp. buitre, and Pg. abutre are from L. vultur.
In Maundeville (1839) xxii. 237 the form veutour is prob. inexact for voutour.]
1. a. One of a number of large birds of prey of the order Raptores which feed almost entirely upon carrion and have the head and neck altogether or almost featherless.
The American vultures belong to different genera from those of the Old World.
| α c 1374 Chaucer Troylus i. 788 Ticius yn helle, Whos stomak foughles tiren euere mo, That highte volturis as bokes telle. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. xxxvi. (Bodl. MS.), The vulture haþ þat name of slowe fliȝt. Ibid., Whan manye vultures comeþ and fleeþ togedres hit bodeþ bataille. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) xxxiv. 153 Vowltures, egles, rauyns, and oþer fewlez of rauyne. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 41 Grete foulis lyke ernis callit voultouris. 1567 J. Maplet Gr. Forest 18 Qvandias is a stone..It is found in the Vulture his heade. 1584–7 Greene Carde of Fancie Wks. (Grosart) IV. 115 The Vulture is mortal enimie to the Eele. 1615 Chapman Odyss. xi. 784 On his bosome sat Two Vultures, digging through his caule of fat. 1638 Sir T. Herbert Trav. (ed. 2) 11 The destruction of men and women..better contenting them, whose dead carkasses they devoure with a vultures appetite. 1679 Collier Ess. ii. (1703) 129 [Despair] preys upon the vitals, like Prometheus's vulture. 1721 Young Revenge iv. i, Give them the vultures, tear them all in pieces! 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. III. 59 The Vulture..is indelicately voracious, and seldom attacks living animals when it can be supplied with dead. 1834 M{supc}Murtrie Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 118 The vultures have eyes flush with the head, and reticulated tarsi,..an elongated beak,..and a greater or less portion of the head, or even of the neck divested of feathers. 1843 Yarrell Brit. Birds I. 2 Vultures are most numerous in warm countries, where a high degree of temperature induces rapid decomposition. 1878 B. Taylor Deukalion ii. v. 84 There wheels a vulture, giving to the blue The shade or sparkle of his slanted wings. |
| β 1388 Wyclif Job xxviii. 7 The iȝe of a vultur [v.r. vowtur], ethir rauenouse brid, bihelde it not. c 1420 Prose Life Alexander 71 In þe mornenynge arely þare come many fewlis als grete as wlturs, reed of colour. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xii. ii. 410 That egle..dredyth the Fultur. 1580 G. Harvey Three Proper Lett. 36 A Vulturs smelling, Apes tasting, sight of an Eagle. 1638 Mayne Lucian (1664) 282 When the Vultur in his crooked clawes Shall graspe the locust. 1667 Milton P.L. iii. 431 As when a Vultur on Imaus bred..flies toward the Springs Of Ganges or Hydaspes. 1695 Prior Ballad on Taking Namur ii, Too like a Vultur Boileau flies, Where sordid Interest shows the Prey. 1757 W. Wilkie Epigon. i. 20 No doves are hatch'd beneath a vultur's wing. 1828–32 Wesbster s.v., The vultur is one of the largest kinds of fowls. |
| γ 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) III. 57 Seuen foules schewede hem to Remus, þat beeþ i-cleped vulterus. Ibid., Fourtene vulterus [v.r. vultres] schewed hem to Romulus. a 1400–50 Alexander 3945 Þan come a fliȝtir in of fowls..To vise on as vowtres. 1474 Caxton Chesse i. i. (1883) 10 Thre honderd birdes that men calle wultres. 1495 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. xix. cxv. 918 Wltrees egges be grete as Egles egges. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Vultur,..a rauenous birde called a voulter or geyre. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 153 Doth not the Lyon for strength..excell man? Doth not the Eagle see clearer, the Vultur smel better? 1687 Good Advice 44 Spurs, Claws and Bills that made her look more like a Vulter then a Dove. |
b. With distinguishing terms.
The number of these is very large, and only some of the more important are here recorded. See also
auriculated ppl. a.,
crane n.1 7,
griffin1 4,
Maltese a. 2,
secretary n.1 7,
sociable a. 1 b.
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 12 *Alpine Vulture: Vultur percnopterus. 1829 Scott Anne of G. ii, One of this..flight chanced to be a lammer-geier, or Alpine vulture. 1896 tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 461 The small Alpine Vulture (Neophron percnopterus), with naked head and very long, thin beak. |
| 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 36 *American Vulture. |
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 8 *Arabian V[ulture]. According to Edwards, the size exceeds that of a common eagle, by one third. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. III. 374 The Vultur monachus, or Arabian Vulture. |
| 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 16 The *ashe-coloured Vulture is the most large byrde of praye that is to be founde. 1668 Charleton Onomast. 64 Vultur Cinereus, the ash⁓coloured Vultur. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) II. 252 In this tribe we may range..the ash-coloured..vulture. |
| 1750 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds III. 106 The *Bearded Vulture. This Bird is of the Bigness of an Eagle. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 13 From which circumstance the name of Bearded Vulture is particularly applied to the present species. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 243/2 Lämmergeyer..or Bearded Vulture,..one of the grandest birds-of-prey of the Palæarctic Region. |
| 1575 Turberv. Falconrie 16 There are two sortes,..the ashe mayld, or *blacke Vulture, and the browne or whitish Vulture. 1601 Holland Pliny x. vi. I. 274 The blacke vultures are the best. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 31 Black Vulture..This bird is described as larger than the Golden Vulture, and of a black colour. 1837 Partington's Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. III. 825/2 The Black Vulture (C. atratus) is a darker and smaller species. |
| 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 10 *Californian Vulture. 1872 Coues N. Amer. Birds 222 Californian Vulture. Brownish-black, lustrous above, paler below. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 302/1 Pseudogryphus, the great Californian Vulture. |
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 9 *Carrion Vulture. The size of this species is about that of a Turkey. 1849 Tennyson ‘You might have won’ 35 For whom the carrion vulture waits—To tear his heart! 1896 tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 461 The smaller Carrion Vulture (Cathartes). |
| a 1672 Willughby Ornith. (1678) 67 The *cinereous or ash⁓coloured Vulture. 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 14 Cinereous V[ulture]..The size is that of an Eagle, or rather bigger. 1843 Penny Cycl. XXVI. 470/1 The Cinereous Vulture is chiefly seen in the plains in winter. |
| 1758 G. Edwards Glean. Nat. Hist. 171 The *Crested or Coped Black Vulture..is a very large bird. |
| 1837 Partington's Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. III. 824/2 The *Eared Vulture (V. auricularis) is an African species of a blackish colour, with a fleshy crest on each side of the head under the openings of the ears. |
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 13 *Egyptian V[ulture]..is said to be of a rufous ash-colour, spotted with brown. 1837 Partington's Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. III. 825/2 Egyptian Vulture (P. leucocephalus)..also, from its abundance in Egypt, called ‘Pharaoh's chicken’. 1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 302/1 One of them [sc. Nephroninæ] is the so⁓called Egyptian Vulture or Pharaoh's Hen, Neophron percnopterus. |
| a 1672 Willughby Ornith. (1678) 67 margin, Our *Fulvous Vulture, like Bellonius his Chesnut one. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 27 The Fulvous or Golden Vulture is one of the largest of the genus, exceeding the size of the Golden Eagle. 1840 Cuvier's Anim. Kingd. 165 The Fulvous Vulture..is the most widely-diffused species, inhabiting the mountainous parts of the whole ancient continent. |
| a 1672 Willughby Ornith. (1678) 67 Viewing the skin of the *Golden Vulture, sent me once out of the Alpine Country of the Grisons,..I thus described it. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) II. 252 The Golden Vulture seems to be the foremost of the kind. 1809 [see fulvous vulture]. |
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 7 *King V[ulture].. is about the size of an hen Turkey. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. III. 374 Another species of the genus Sarcorhamphus..is the King Vulture (S. papa), which is not uncommon in Brazil and Guiana. |
| 1781 Latham Gen. Synop. Birds I. 19 *Tawny Vulture..inhabits Falkland Islands. 1837 Partington's Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. III. 824/1 The Tawny Vulture (V. fulvus) is a large bird, and has been long known to natural history. |
| Ibid. 825/2 The *Turkey Vulture (C. aura) is another American species of smaller size. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. III. 375 The common American Vulture is the Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura), or Turkey Buzzard. |
| 1896 tr. Boas' Text Bk. Zool. 461 The large *White-headed Vulture (Vultur fulvus). |
c. king of the vultures, the king-vulture (
Sarcorhamphus papa).
| 1743 G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Birds I. 2 The King of the Vultures. This Bird is about the Bigness of a Hen-Turkey. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1824) II. 254 There is one of the kind, called the King of the Vultures, which from its extraordinary figure deserves a separate description. 1796 Stedman Surinam II. xxvii. 299 The bird called the king of the vultures is not very common in Surinam. 1855 Orr's Circle Sci., Org. Nat. III. 375 It is from this that he derives his title of the King of the Vultures. |
2. fig. a. Something which preys upon a person, the mind, etc., after the manner of a vulture;
esp. a consuming or torturing passion.
Commonly in allusion to the punishment inflicted on Tityus (
Odyss. xi. 576).
| 1582 T. Watson Centurie of Love li, A Vultur worse then his teares all my vaines. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. v. ii. 30, I am Reuenge sent from th' infernall Kingdome, To ease the gnawing Vulture of the mind. a 1631 Donne Serm., Ps. xc. 14 (1640) 813 That fearfull Vulture, the Inquisition, hovers over them. 1639 J. Taylor (Water P.) Summers Trav. (1873) 33 The Client having Tityus empty maw (His guts tormented with the Vulture Law). 1742 Gray Eton 62 These shall the fury Passions tear, The vulturs of the mind, Disdainful Anger, pallid Fear, And Shame. 1816 Byron Ch. Har. iii. lix, And could the ceaseless vultures cease to prey On self-condemning bosoms, it were here. 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth lxv, The bereaved heart lay still heavy as lead within his bosom; but now the dark vulture Remorse sat upon it rending it. 1883 Macfadyen in Congregat. Year Bk. 77 This nation seems preyed upon by vultures of lust and superstition. |
b. A person of a vile and rapacious disposition.
| 1603 B. Jonson Sejanus iii. ii, Time shall mature..what we, with so good vultures, haue begunne. 1613 Beaum. & Fl. Honest Man's Fort. ii. i, Ye dregs of baseness, vultures amongst men, That tyre upon the hearts of generous spirits. 1750 Johnson Rambler No. 38 ¶10 He..will be at last torn to pieces by the vultures that always hover over fortunes in decay. 1828 Lytton Pelham III. ii, Before midnight I was in high fever; they sent for the vultures of physic—I was bled copiously. 1884 Pall Mall G. 19 Sept. 4/2 Lord Ripon..showed that India was not merely the favourite hunting-ground of English vultures. |
3. Astr. One or other of two northern constellations, distinguished as the
falling vulture = lyra 2,
harp n.1 3, and
flying vulture = eagle n. 4.
| 1638 Chilmead tr. Hues' Treat. Globes ii. iii. (1889) 53 The ninth is Gallina or Cygnus, the Hen or Swan, and is called in Arabique..the flying Vulture. 1673 F. Lamb Acroscopium 6 The Harp, otherwise called the falling Grype, or Vulture. Ibid. 10 The Eagle, by some call'd the flying Grype or Vulture, consisting of 12 stars. 1901 J. F. Hewitt Mythmaking Age i. i. 8 When Vega in the Constellation of the Vulture or Lyra became Pole Star. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. Attrib. as
vulture beak,
vulture claw,
vulture eye,
vulture feather, etc., denoting either ‘of a vulture’ or ‘like that of a vulture’; also
vulture-feather, a species of moth.
| 1834 W. Howitt in Tait's Mag. I. 375/2 With a heart free from the *vulture-beak of care. |
| 1867 Morris Jason v. 255 Within her filthy *vulture-claws clutched tight. |
| 1593 A. Chute Beautie Dishonoured (1908) 110 When coward death..Lookes on her fayre face, with a *vultar eye. 1820 Scott Monast. xxiv, Under the eagle, or rather the vulture eye of the Baron. |
| 1832 J. Rennie Consp. Butterfl. & M. 208 The *Vulture Feather (― Gryphipennella) found amongst grass. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Vulture-feathers, feathers of species of Accipitres, imported from Bombay, and sold for stuffing beds, &c., the larger ones for making artificial flowers, &c. 1883 Ibid., Vulture feathers, a commerical name for those of the Rhea of South America. |
| 1885 Rider Haggard King Solomon's Mines ix, She turned her bald *vulture-head towards us. |
| 1854 Poultry Chron. I. 128/2 *Vulture-hocks [in Cochin China cocks] are a matter of taste. 1855 Ibid. III. 348/2 The boots, or as Shanghai fanciers would style it, the vulture hock, must be white. 1847 Tennyson Princ. iv. 344 Thereat the Lady stretch'd a *vulture throat. |
| 1871 J. Hay Pike County Ball. (1880) 86 Cast from the hovering *vulture-wings of one dark thought of woe and doom. |
b. Attrib. with nouns of quality or action.
| 1593 A. Chute Beautie Dishonoured (1908) 105 To vultar greedinesse of an easie crowne. 1800 Campbell Scene in Bavaria xiii, Who shuns a warring world, nor woos The vulture cover of its wing. 1806 T. Maurice Fall Mogul ii. iv, All our treasures His vulture-grasp has seiz'd. 1821 Shelley Hellas 940 Victorious Wrong, with vulture scream, Salutes the rising sun. |
c. Appositive, also in
fig. use (
cf. sense 2).
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 551 Whose vultur thought doth pitch the price so hie. a 1639 T. Carew Mediocritie in love Rej. ii, If it prove Disdaine, that torrent will devoure My Vulture-hopes. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 85 The eagle kind, the hawk kind, the vulture kind. 1809 Shaw Gen. Zool. VII. 2 The chief of the Vulture tribe..is undoubtedly the Condor. Ibid. 13 One of the principal distinctions between the Eagle and the Vulture kind. 1818 Keats Endym. iii. 620 Cursed, cursed Circe! O vulture⁓witch, hast never heard of mercy? 1843 T. Edmonston in Zoologist I. 38 The vulture-eagle lay in her own nest, bound, gagged, and powerless. |
d. In instrumental and similative combs., as
vulture-gnawn,
vulture-hocked (see 4 a),
vulture-like,
vulture-rent,
vulture-torn,
vulture-tortured adjs.;
vulture-wise adv.| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas ii. ii. Colonies 298 The Vultur⁓rented Prometheus, 'mong the Greeks had fire invented. 1623 G. Daniel Sonn. xv, To her that..laies to view My Vultur-gnawne hart open. 1644 Digby Nat. Soul Concl. 456 The ravenous inclemency, and vulturelike cruelty. 1742 Young Nt. Th. viii. 418 These rush upon thee; Thy vitals seize, and vultur-like, devour. 1743 Francis tr. Hor., Odes ii. xiv. 10 Where vulture-tortured Tityus lies. 1826 Blackw. Mag. XIX. 589 To be like poor Prometheus, vulture-torn. 1854 Poultry Chron. II. 84/1 They are well booted, or as the Shanghae fanciers style it, ‘Vulture-hocked’. 1892 Stevenson & Osbourne Wrecker xiii. 206 Towards her the taut Norah Creina, vulture-wise, wriggled to windward: come from so far to pick her bones. 1906 W. de la Mare Poems 82 This beast in one flat hand clasped vulture-wise A glitt'ring image. |
▸
attrib. Finance (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.). Chiefly
depreciative. Of or relating to investment in the assets of companies which are performing poorly and may therefore be undervalued; of or relating to investment in the debts of failing or bankrupt companies with substantial tangible assets. Usu. in
vulture fund,
vulture investor.
Cf. vulture capitalist n. at Additions.
| 1985 Wall St. Jrnl. 27 Nov. 27/1 The vulture funds obviously are looking at the troubled loan portfolios held by savings and loan associations and banks as a prime source of properties. 1990 Washington Post 18 Mar. h1 ‘Vulture’ investors who speculate in the stocks and bonds of ailing companies. 1997 Jrnl. Econ. Lit. 35 1691/2 The authors..find positive abnormal returns for the target's common stock and bonds in the two days surrounding the announcement of a vulture purchase of public debt or equity. 2001 Business Week 20–27 Aug. 162 One of the best tech bets for now could be the ‘vulture funds’ that are snapping up debt of disconnected telecoms. |
▸
vulture capitalist n.after
venture capitalist n. at
venture n. Compounds
Finance (
orig. and chiefly
U.S.)
(a) derogatory = venture capitalist n. at
venture n. Compounds;
(b) chiefly
depreciative an investor in the assets or debts of failing companies;
= vulture investor at Additions.
| 1978 Washington Post 1 Oct. m2/3 In some circles, venture capitalists are unaffectionately referred to as ‘*vulture capitalists’. 1986 Syracuse (N.Y.) Post-Standard 8 Oct. d9/2 R.D. Smith & Co. is a ‘vulture capitalist’. The Manhattan-based investment firm specializes in stocks of distressed companies. 2003 M. Power Rethinking Devel. Geographies x. 228 There are no existing mechanisms whatsoever for tackling the ‘vulture capitalists’. |
▪ II. ˈvulture, v. [f. the n.] trans. To tear like a vulture. Also
intr. with
down, to descend like a vulture.
| 1628 Feltham Resolves ii. [i.] xxv. 80 Though pleasure merries the Sences for a while: yet horror after vultures the vnconsuming heart. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 47 He rooted in the sand..vulturing the dead. 1948 M. Allingham More Work for Undertaker xiii. 164 The tax harpies vultured down for death duties. 1955 Newsweek 10 Jan. 49/1 Contestants had vultured the library's reference and guidebooks for the names of the mystery towns. 1977 L. Gordon Eliot's Early Years 147 From ‘Proteus’ came the dog vulturing the dead in part I of The Waste Land. |
Hence
ˈvultured ppl. a. (
poet.).
| 1946 Dylan Thomas Deaths & Entrances 47 O spiral of ascension From the vultured urn Of the morning Of man. |