1. Any of several flightless birds of the genus Apteryx native to New Zealand, having vestigial wings and a long slender bill. Also called apteryx.
2. Informal. A New Zealander.
3. A kiwifruit.

[Maori, imitative of the call of male kiwis. Sense 3, short for KIWIFRUIT.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.