blackbird

CEFRB1

/ˈblakbəːd/

noun · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    any bird of the family Icteridae whose male is black or predominantly black.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A native of the South Pacific islands.

Examples

  • The blackbird found a little red worm in the green grass.

  • "Poor blackbird!" said Pinocchio to the Cat. "Why did you kill him?"

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
1
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈblækˌbɚd/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A variety of New World birds of the family Icteridae (26 species of icterid bird).

  2. A common true thrush, Turdus merula, found in woods and gardens over much of Eurasia, and introduced elsewhere.

verb

Extra meaning

  1. To enslave someone, especially through chicanery or force

More examples

In context

  • “At the same time, island communities — especially in coastal areas, where the effect of population loss was often enormous — sometimes retaliated against blackbirding raids.”

Synonyms

Quick test

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Nearby

Origin

noun

From Middle English blakebird, blacbrid (“ouzel; Eurasian blackbird”), equivalent to black + bird.