Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A hawk of the genus Accipiter, characterized by short wings and a long tail.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun In ornithology: A bird of the order Accipitres or Raptores; an accipitrine or raptorial bird. [capitalized] A genus of birds of the family Falconidæ, embracing short-winged, long-tailed hawks, such as the sparrow-hawk of Europe, Accipiter nisus, and the sharp-shinned hawk of North America, A. fuscus, with many other congeneric species. Brisson, 1760. See Raptores.
  • noun In surgery, a bandage applied over the nose: so called from its resemblance to the claw of a hawk.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A genus of rapacious birds; one of the Accipitres or Raptores.
  • noun (Surg.) A bandage applied over the nose, resembling the claw of a hawk.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun biology, zoology, ornithology Any hawk of the genus Accipiter.
  • noun medicine, surgery A bandage applied over the nose, resembling the claw of a hawk.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun type genus of the family Accipitridae

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin, hawk; see ōku- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin accipiter ("hawk").

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Examples

  • Response: This is an adult Brahminy kite, Haliastur indus, a medium-sized accipiter.

    Mystery bird: Brahminy kite, Haliastur indus 2011

  • UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There he goes, an accipiter (ph) flying right.

    CNN Transcript Jan 19, 2008 2008

  • More importantly however, the root isn't directly based on the attested words which show Greek ōkus, Latin accipiter 'hawk'

    Archive 2007-04-01 2007

  • More importantly however, the root isn't directly based on the attested words which show Greek ōkus, Latin accipiter 'hawk'

    Modern Indo-European? 2007

  • Introivit hic quis accipiter, columba exit; introivit lupus, ovis egreditur, &c. 6777.

    Anatomy of Melancholy 2007

  • The Curved Bill Thrasher builds large twig nests in our chollas, have accipiter orange eyes, sings a beautiful song, and that bill from the Cretaceous makes it a favorite.

    Matt's Ten Birds Part 3 2006

  • Just about anyone--even children--with a reliable source of suitable food, could raise a small accipiter from a couple weeks of age and be essentially hunting with it in eight weeks.

    Early Falconry 2005

  • Just about anyone--even children--with a reliable source of suitable food, could raise a small accipiter from a couple weeks of age and be essentially hunting with it in eight weeks.

    Archive 2005-11-01 2005

  • He reverted back into draconic form and launched himself high into the sky, gaining altitude, then descending on the hapless one-horn in the kind of deadly dive dragons and accipiter hawks had in common.

    The Elvenbane Lackey, Mercedes 1991

  • There was no hunting to speak of, except for Valyn's accipiter hawks, who were nasty-tempered enough to fling themselves into the thickest of underbrush after prey.

    The Elvenbane Lackey, Mercedes 1991

Comments

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  • I know this was probably listed as a bird of prey, e.g. eagles and falcons, but I love this secondary definition:

    Surgery. ‘A bandage applied over the nose, resembling the claw of a hawk.’

    February 14, 2007

  • Ha! Great definition! Never heard of that one before. Thanks, c_b. :-)

    February 14, 2007