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early bird

/ˌʌrli bərd/
/ˈʌli bəd/
IPA guide

Other forms: early birds

If someone calls you an early bird, it means that you tend to get up very early in the morning. It's usually a compliment to be called an early bird.

Early birds are people with a natural habit of waking early, and often also going to bed before it gets too late. You can also call someone who arrives early to events, movies, the airport, or appointments as an early bird. Early bird comes from a seventeenth century English proverb, "The early bird catches the worm," which means that people who are well prepared are usually the most successful.

Definitions of early bird
  1. noun
    a person who gets up very early in the morning
    see moresee less
    type of:
    riser
    a person who rises (especially from bed)
  2. noun
    a person who arrives early before others do
    see moresee less
    type of:
    arrival, arriver, comer
    someone who arrives (or has arrived)
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