1.
beak; bill
The hard, pointed mouth part of a bird. Can also be written as 嘴 in kanji, though the kana form is more common.
くちばし comes from 口 (mouth) + 端 (edge/tip). Usually written in kana; the kanji 嘴 is rarely used.
Common collocations
Common expressions
くちばしを挟む means to butt into someone else's conversation or business. Equivalent to the English "to stick one's nose in."
Usage
The shape and size of a bird's beak is a key topic in nature documentaries and science education in Japan, so this word appears often in those contexts.