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  1. fledgling love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A young bird that has recently acquired its flight feathers.
  2. n. A young or inexperienced person.
  3. adj. New and untried or inexperienced: a fledgling enterprise.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A young bird just fledged.
  2. n. Hence A raw or inexperienced person.
  3. Newly fledged; untried.

Wiktionary

  1. adj. this sense?) untried or inexperienced
  2. n. literally A young bird which has just developed its flight feathers (notably wings).
  3. n. figuratively An immature, naïve and/or inexperienced person.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. prenominal having just acquired its flight feathers; -- of a young bird.
  2. adj. young and inexperienced.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. any new participant in some activity
  2. adj. (of a young bird) having acquired its flight feathers
  3. n. young bird that has just fledged or become capable of flying
  4. adj. young and inexperienced

Etymologies

  1. From fledge 'prepare for flying' + diminutive suffix -ling (Wiktionary)

Examples

  • “The site is in fledgling stages, so info and photos are lacking a bit, but I do think this site needs to branch out into sweetwater.”

    Talking Trash

  • “LONDON — Police increased their guard around Buckingham Palace and other landmarks Wednesday as security officials monitored what they described as a fledgling terror plot to wage Mumbai-style shooting sprees or other attacks on Britain, France or Germany.”

    The Huffington Post: Terrorist Plot Uncovered In Europe

  • “Lest anyone suspect that her head was turned by the exhilarating successes of the past year, however, she called her fledgling venture Abishag Productions.”

    Katherine Heigl

  • “Here, he says that anyone who supports the United States in this occupation should be attacked, that is, the fledgling government here.”

    CNN Transcript Jul 2, 2006

  • “Recalling the fledgling days in founding his 826 Valencia literary program for children, author Eggers called Kass his mentor.”

    SFGate: Top News Stories

  • “Their instinct, though, is right on: having just the right trademark can make or break a fledgling product or technology.”

    Forbes.com: News

  • “MONTREAL - When Quebec politician Henri Bourassa proposed to call his fledgling newspaper Le Devoir - or The Duty - there were doubts even in his elevated circle as to whether a paper by that name devoted to harping on the theme of "public duty" would find a sustaining readership.”

    canada.com Top Stories

  • “Organizers and participants in the nation's only working cap-and-trade program for carbon emissions called the fledgling attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions a success Wednesday.”

    All Today's News - Sightline Daily

  • “KONKRET, called the fledgling paper "Baby-FAZ," implying that it wasn't very different from the bourgeoisie”

    Deutsche Welle: DW-WORLD.DE

  • “They plan to call the fledgling organisation Rainka, a combination of "rainbow" and "kankra", a word they use among themselves that Mbewe says is based on the Bemba word for fruits.”

    Mail & Guardian Online

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synonyms (1)

Words with the same meaning

  1. fledgeling

equivalents (4)

Other words for ‘fledgling’

  1. mature
  1. fledged
  1. inexperient
  1. inexperienced

hypernyms (1)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. young bird

same context (10)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. nascent
  2. mercantile
  1. extraterrestrial
  2. Athenian
  1. award-winning
  2. far-flung
  1. state-owned
  2. full-time
  1. Phoenician
  2. aspire

reverse dictionary (5)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. squab-chick
  1. fledgling
  1. seed
  1. Washington
  1. avicula

tags (3)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. baby animals
  1. dgl
  1. ccvcccvcc

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Wordmap

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Word visualization

Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘fledgling’.

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Comments

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  • rolig It is interesting that the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors, one of the leading British spelling guides, recommends the spelling fledgling (not fledgeling). But of course, it approves the British spellings acknowledgement and judgement. Now why is that? Jun 8, 2011

  • hernesheir The Time Bandits were forever planting and repotting hedglings until they came into possession of The Map. Mar 2, 2010

  • bilby We could always make up some more.
    "She was on a diet and only had two fudglings at the candy store." Mar 2, 2010

  • hernesheir Thanks bilby! Mar 2, 2010

  • hernesheir sandglass also contains the -dgl- sequence; a consonant+blend combination different from that of fledgling. Mar 2, 2010

  • bilby ridgling - colt with undescended testicles. I don't know whose job it is to go around groping young 'orses but I'm glad it's not me.
    sandglass has a different pronunciation of your pet cluster. Mar 2, 2010

  • hernesheir Really like the -dgl- cluster this word is centered upon. Any other -dgl- examples, Wordnikies? Mar 2, 2010

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‘fledgling’ has been looked up 2875 times, loved by 4 people, added to 51 lists, commented on 7 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.