the.com/beak
a Swiss Army face, built from the same stuff as your fingernails.
means The hard, projecting mouthpart of a bird, used for feeding, grooming, and defence — and, by extension, a slang term for a nose or for a magistrate or schoolmaster.
from From Old French 'bec,' which came from Latin 'beccus' — a word the Roman writer Suetonius credited to the Gauls, naming it after a rooster-billed chieftain. The Celtic origin is plausible, possibly related to a root meaning 'point' or 'snout.' The British slang 'beak' for a judge or teacher is murkier and likely separate, though its trail goes cold somewhere in old thieves' cant.
- material
- Made of keratin, like hair and nails.
- toolkit
- Cracks seeds, spears fish, preens, fights, builds.
- sense organ
- Many beaks detect prey through touch and pressure.
- never stops
- Beaks grow continuously, worn down by use.
- toothless trick
- Birds ditched heavy teeth to fly lighter.
sword-billed hummingbird — beak longer than its body at 4 inches, found in andes mountains
australian pelican — longest beak of any bird at 17.5 inches, inhabits australian coasts
kiwi bird — nostrils at tip of beak, uses it to probe new zealand soil for food