murmuration

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That restless murmuration, and the width of the night with its scattered stars, seemed to come rushing at his face.

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Definitions (4)

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  1. Murmuring; discontent; grumbling. After bakbityng cometh grucchyng or murmuracioun. Chaucer, Parson's Tale.
  2. In falconry, a gathering of starlings.

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Examples (10)

  • Thousands of birds, known as a murmuration, are currently roosting in the Obridge area of Taunton and County Gazette photographer Geoff Hall (pictured) took the once-in-a-lifetime shot from the Obridge Link.
  • That restless murmuration, and the width of the night with its scattered stars, seemed to come rushing at his face. —  Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works
  • The chalk-pit was full of sunshine and the murmuration of bees. —  Complete Project Gutenberg John Galsworthy Works
  • They went forth with a strong murmuration, —  Henry of Monmouth, Volume 2 Memoirs of Henry the Fifth
  • Log on today Back to Table of Contents Growing Old the Mythic Way by Jane Yolen Green/Man Grown Old Wrists veined like leaves Hair the color of flowers gone by He bends with every passing wind He can no longer lie with a lover Nor dance inside the storm Too much hails hurts his hide The swollen river makes his right ankle seize up He is always thirsty, even in the rain Yet he does not complain He does not complain Last Unicorn Others, like foxes, go to ground But the last unicorn, whitened Faded the color of old sheets hung On the trailer park line Goes to the edge of the ocean The tops of the waves are as white as he Brothers, he thinks, sisters And plunges in, not so much a death As a transfiguration At Last, The Little Mermaid She no longer remembers the knives in her feet Or the one in her hand, so close to his throat It might have pricked him without her meaning to She no longer remembers the curse Or the cure or the painful interstices All she remembers is foam, the bubbles rising And the songs of angels So like the murmuration of the sea Jack, the Giant, and All After Two old men, playing chess, in a house of old men As they play, a harp keeps them company They share a history, though neither can recall it One so large, his memories are all of sky The other so small, he thinks all day of earth Two old friends, sharing a game, whose complicated rules Are the only thing they can agree upon Troll Under Bridge It is almost dawn and the troll under the bridge Gets to his knees, crawls out through the thin water To the river bank. —  Asimov's SF, June2006
 

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Etymologies (1)

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  1. from Middle English murmuracioun, from Old French murmuracion, French murmuration = Spanish murmuracion, mormuracion = Portuguese murmuração = Italian mormorazione, murmurazione, from Latin murmuratio(n-), a murmuring, from murmurare, past participle murmuratus, murmur: see murmur, v.
 

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