Transcription
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- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
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- [kat-burd]
- /ˈkætˌbɜrd/
-
- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
-
- [kat-burd]
- /ˈkætˌbɜrd/
Definitions of catbird word
- noun catbird any of several North American songbirds of the family Mimidae (mockingbirds), esp Dumetella carolinensis, whose call resembles the mewing of a cat 3
- noun catbird any of several Australian bowerbirds of the genera Ailuroedus and Scenopoeetes, having a catlike call 3
- noun catbird a slate-gray North American passerine bird (Dumetella carolinensis) with a black crown and tail: it makes a mewing sound like that of a cat and is in the same family (Mimidae) as the mockingbirds and thrashers 3
- noun catbird any of several American or Australian birds having catlike cries, especially Dumetella carolinensis (gray catbird) of North America. 1
- noun catbird A long- tailed American songbird of the mockingbird family, with mainly dark gray or black plumage and catlike calls. 1
- noun catbird Either of two species of American mockingbird relatives, the grey catbird, Dumetella carolinensis, and the black catbird, Melanoptila glabrirostris. 0
Information block about the term
Origin of catbird
First appearance:
before 1700 One of the 50% oldest English words
An Americanism dating back to 1700-10; cat + bird
Historical Comparancy
Parts of speech for Catbird
noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
catbird popularity
A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 65% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
This word is included in each student's vocabulary. Most likely there is at least one movie with this word in the title.
catbird usage trend in Literature
This diagram is provided by Google Ngram ViewerTop questions with catbird
- what does a catbird sound like?
- what is a catbird?
- what does in the catbird seat mean?
- what is the catbird seat?
- what is a catbird seat?
- what is catbird seat?
- what does catbird seat mean?
- what does sitting in the catbird seat mean?
- what is the catbird seat about?
- what does catbird mean?
See also
Matching words
- Words starting with c
- Words starting with ca
- Words starting with cat
- Words starting with catb
- Words starting with catbi
- Words starting with catbir
- Words starting with catbird