hom·ing pigeon

(hō′mĭng)

A pigeon trained to return to its home roost.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

homing pigeon

(Animals) any breed of pigeon developed for its homing instinct, used for carrying messages or for racing. Also called: homer

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hom′ing pi`geon

a pigeon trained to carry messages and return home.

[1885–90]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

homing pigeon - pigeon trained to return home

homer

domestic pigeon - domesticated pigeon raised for sport or food

carrier pigeon - a homing pigeon used to carry messages

Translations

Brieftaube

postagalamb

piccione viaggiatore

brevdue

pombo correio

homing pigeon

n → Brieftaube f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

homing pigeon

n → piccione m viaggiatore

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

Free, like a homing pigeon, he headed blindly and directly for the beach and the salt sea over which had floated the Arangi, on her deck Skipper in command.

View in context

The man could not explain how, like a homing pigeon, he had found his way to his own old mess again.

View in context

Straight as homing pigeons, the two made their way toward the ruin and desolation that had once been the center of their happy lives, and which was soon to be restored by the willing black hands of laughing laborers, made happy again by the return of the master and mistress whom they had mourned as dead.

View in context

Pesky was a homing pigeon and a racing pigeon so the fact that he had stopped in North Yorkshire suggested he wasn't a very good homing pigeon.

I'm wing man for a pigeon; The Yorkshire Vet

This well-researched historical novel presents a wealth of period detail and develops a romantic story inspired by the actual discovery, reported in newspapers more than a half century after the war, of the skeleton of an English homing pigeon carrying a still-legible coded message which has yet to be decoded.

Hlad, Alan. The Long Flight Home

This is the MacArthur competition -- the Philippines' longest homing pigeon race.

The deadly odds of pigeon racing in the Philippines

Science has never concretely explained the homing pigeon's skills.

The deadly odds of pigeon racing in PH

Llanbradach councillor Colin Mann said he has been advised by the Welsh Homing Pigeon Union that the birds cannot be moved.

Family plea as pigeons face cull in house wrangle

Jul 23-Aug 23 LEO YOU'VE been worried that you've lost your homing pigeon, after he went missing.

BLOKEOSCOPE; My mysterious ball will reveal your future ..

The homing pigeon is considered the 'best' of its kind and the price of a single pigeon may reach more than SR100,000 ($26,666)." He also said that homing pigeons "are rare in Madinah because no competitions are organized here.

Prized pigeons are big attraction at Madinah market

3 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT (MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS) (NI) ORDER 1985 Take notice that application dated 25-08-2017 was made for a 7 Day Annual Entertainments Licence for WEST BELFAST HOMING PIGEON SOCIETY, 19 Bootle Street, Belfast BT13 3GQ permitting: A theatrical performance; Dancing, singing or music or any entertainment of a like kind; Any public contest, display etc.

LICENSING OF PLACES OF ENTERTAINMENT [...]; Public Notices