Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Either of two Old World songbirds (Sylvia communis or S. curruca) having brownish plumage and a white throat and belly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of several small singing birds of the genus Sylvia, found in the British Islands.
- noun The white-throated sparrow, or peabody-bird, of the United States, Zonotriehia albicollis.
- noun A Brazilian humming-bird, Leucochloris albicollis. The character implied in the name is very unusual in this family.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of Old World warblers, esp. the common European species (
Sylvia cinerea ), called alsostrawsmear ,nettlebird ,muff , andwhitecap , thegarden whitethroat , orgolden warbler (Sylvia hortensis ), and thelesser whitethroat (Sylvia curruca ).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A species of typical
warbler , scientific nameSylvia communis .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun Old World warbler similar to the greater whitethroat but smaller
- noun common North American finch with a white patch on the throat and black-and-white striped crown
- noun greyish-brown Old World warbler with a white throat and underparts
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The note of the whitethroat, which is continually repeated, and often attended with odd gesticulations on the wing, is harsh and displeasing.
The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1 Gilbert White 1756
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Above the white deadnettle, from a branch of flowering blackthorn, almost out of sight, a whitethroat sang.
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'A whitethroat sang ... only for a moment — a burst of joy.'
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A whitethroat flies out over the salt marsh from its grassed nesting bank on the most recent seawall, singing its dry ratchet song over the slippery green ooze; a redshank agitated by a marsh harrier towers inland over emerald wheat fields calling its bleak mud-flat alarm.
A Year on the Wing TIM DEE 2009
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A poignant example is the whitethroat, a small songbird common throughout Europe.
The Power Of Cuddly 2008
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Any of several small European birds; esp., the whitethroat, the garden warbler, or the blackcap, which use bedstraw (Galium) in their nests.
The Annotated "Jack Straw" Robert Hunter 1971
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When the whitethroat came and burgeoning grains put out
The Wood Carver's Wife Marjorie Lowry Christie 1922
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But it is not only a delight to me to listen to the lark singing at heaven's gate and to the vesper nightingale in the oak copse -- the singer of a golden throat and wondrous artistry; I also love the smaller vocalists -- the modest shufewing and the lesser whitethroat and the yellowhammer with his simple chant.
Afoot in England 1881
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The green caterpillar swings as he spins his thread and lengthens his cable to the tide of air, descending from the tree; before he can slip it the whitethroat takes him.
Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Richard Jefferies 1867
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The whitethroat frequents the hedge and ditch, and there weaves its slender nest.
Field and Hedgerow Being the Last Essays of Richard Jefferies Richard Jefferies 1867
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