birdie

1 of 2

noun

bird·​ie ˈbər-dē 

plural birdies

1

: a little bird

2

: a golf score of one stroke less than par on a hole compare eagle entry 1

3

: shuttlecock

In Asia, badminton is an obsession … . In one preliminary match in Malaysia, 21,000 people came out to watch the speeding birdie.

—Jennifer Boeth

birdie

2 of 2

verb

birdied; birdieing

transitive verb

: to score a birdie on

Examples of birdie in a Sentence

Noun

I made a birdie on the fifth hole.

I made birdie on the fifth hole.

Verb

She birdied the second hole.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

And then three birdies at the end for a 7-under 64, giving the 40-year-old Venezuelan his best score in 45 rounds at the majors and a two-shot lead on an opening day of surprises. —Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 16 May 2025

May fired 66 in the last three rounds, capping off his remarkable run with a 15-foot birdie on the 18th hole. —Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 14 May 2025

Verb

On the 13th hole, Spieth bogeyed the hole in the first and second rounds but birdied the hole in the third and fourth rounds. —Ryan Canfield, FOXNews.com, 15 Apr. 2025

Patrick Reed, who won the Masters in 2018, birdied two of the last three holes for a 69 and was at 6-under 210 along with Ludvig Aberg, the runner-up a year ago who finally got in gear with three straight birdies on the back nine for a 69. —Doug Ferguson, Chicago Tribune, 13 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1768, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1921, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for birdie

• gurdy
• purdy
• sturdy
• thirty
• wordy