as in pilot
one who flies or is qualified to fly an aircraft or spacecraft in the early days of aviation, birdmen would travel around the country in their biplanes, putting on flying shows

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of birdman But until then, at least Sandberg has another insane world — including an acid-defecating birdman — to keep him busy. Alex Ritman, Variety, 27 May 2025 Being a Zimmerman show, the dragons, birdmen, and creatures and complications that pop up will be a wonder to behold. Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2024 Being a Zimmerman show, the dragons, birdmen, and creatures and complications that pop up will be a wonder to behold. Randy McMullen, The Mercury News, 17 Oct. 2024 Nearby is an ancient copper plate of a birdman displayed as an example of creativity. Peggy McGlone, Washington Post, 27 July 2022 Ingmar Bergman’s 1975 take with a young Håkan Hagegård as birdman Papageno. Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 16 Sep. 2017 Wingsuit flying, which relies on the use of a specialized jumpsuit often referred to as a wingsuit, squirrel suit or birdman suit, is one of the most extreme forms of BASE jumping, an acronym for leaping from a building, antenna, span or Earth. CBS News, 26 May 2017 Wingsuit flying, which relies on the use of a specialized jumpsuit often referred to as a wingsuit, squirrel suit or birdman suit, is one of the most extreme forms of BASE jumping, an acronym for leaping from a building, antenna, span or Earth. CBS News, 26 May 2017 Wingsuit flying, which relies on the use of a specialized jumpsuit often referred to as a wingsuit, squirrel suit or birdman suit, is one of the most extreme forms of BASE jumping, an acronym for leaping from a building, antenna, span or Earth. CBS News, 26 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for birdman
Noun
  • These swans have been spotted by pilots at heights of up to 25,000 feet during their transcontinental migrations between Europe and Asia.
    Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 14 June 2025
  • Mustered out from the Great War, veteran pilots — still hooked on the adrenaline rush of aerial combat — reenacted their exploits for the screen in rickety biplanes that seemed to have been stitched together from string and paper mache.
    Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 14 June 2025
Noun
  • Axiom Space’s Director of Human Spaceflight and former NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson is the mission commander with aviator John Shoffner as pilot and two mission specialist seats paid for by the Saudi Space Commission, Rayyanah Barnawi and Ali AlQarni.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 June 2025
  • Amelia Earhart’s final flight Laurie Gwen Shapiro on the aviator and her publicity-mad husband.
    Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 2 June 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Birdman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/birdman. Accessed 20 Jun. 2025.

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