osprey

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“
Lucien informed them that the osprey is a bird common to both Continents, and that it is often seen upon the shores of the Mediterranean, pursuing the finny tribes there, just as it does in America.

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Definitions (4)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A fish-eating hawk (Pandion haliaetus) having plumage that is dark on the back and white below. Also called fish hawk.
  2. noun A plume formerly used to trim women's hats.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (1)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913

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Examples (50)

  • Cormorants and osprey are aggressive avian predators that feed on all small fish. —  Vineyard Gazette - Top Stories
  • The original artwork for the osprey was drawn by Dr. Guilford's wife as a pencil sketch and digitized by Lynn Mahnke.
  • Participants often spot other wildlife including tule elk, golden eagles, osprey, herons, red-tailed hawks and egrets. —  DesertUSA News
  • The season's first osprey, a harbinger of spring on the Vineyard, was reported on the afternoon of March 12 at the Martha's Vineyard Hospital. —  The Martha's Vineyard Times News Headlines
  • Fishing line and baling twine are killing local osprey, and state officials are asking for help to solve the problem.
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This word has been looked up 87 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English osprai, from Anglo-Norman ospreit, from Medieval Latin avis praedae, bird of prey : Latin avis, bird; see awi- in Indo-European roots + Latin praedae, genitive of praeda, booty, prey; see ghend- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also ospray; also ospring, osspringer (apparently simulating spring); from late Middle English ospray for *osfray, from Old French *osfraie, orfraie (later English orfray, q. v.), from Latin ossifragus, osprey, literally ‘bone-breaker’: see ossifrage.
 

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/ˈɑsprə/
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