starling

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (1)  · 
“
We know, in fact, that the starling is our greatest mimic, and that he often succeeds in recognizable reproductions of single notes, of phrases, and occasionally of entire songs, as, for instance, that of the blackbird.

View all »
Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun Any of various Old World passerine birds of the family Sturnidae, characteristically having a short tail, pointed wings, and dark, often iridescent plumage, especially Sturnus vulgaris, widely naturalized in North America.
  2. noun A protective structure of pilings surrounding a pier of a bridge.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (21)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples

  • It had dashed itself against a pane of thick plate-glass while in pursuit of a starling, I think; seeing the light through the bow, it had not recognized the glass, and must have collided with it in the act of swooping. —  Grain and Chaff from an English Manor
  • We know, in fact, that the starling is our greatest mimic, and that he often succeeds in recognizable reproductions of single notes, of phrases, and occasionally of entire songs, as, for instance, that of the blackbird. —  A Shepherd's Life Impressions of the South Wiltshire Downs
  • Old men in the country have told me that forty or fifty years ago it was common to hear people on the farms say that of all birds the starling was the best to eat When starling and sparrow shooting-matches declined, the starling went out of favour as a table-bird, and from that time thyspecies has been increasing. —  Birds in Town and Village
  • 'must create an environment as filthy as a starling roost. —  The Eagle And The Nightingale
  • I mean spread the left hand and shake the right high up, and thump with the left heel, and it means, “Anyone who thinks a starling is a pest just don’t know anything about how a starling thinks” or something like that. —  Galaxy October, 1952
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

Starling has been looked up 326 times, favorited once, listed 30 times, and commented on once.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English, from Old English stærlinc : stær, starling + -linc, noun suff.; see -ling1.
  2. Perhaps alteration of Middle English stadelinge, from stathel, foundation, from Old English stathol; see stā- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English starling, sterling, sterlynge; from stare (from Anglo-Saxon stær), a stare, starling (see stare), + -ling.
  2. Also sterling; cf. Swedish Danish stör, a pole, stake, prop; Swedish störa, prop up with sticks or poles, = Danish stære, put corn on poles to dry.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈstɑrlɪŋ/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

You can expect to see this word about twice a year.

Recent Lookups

Kellgren · hami · Colia · Memorizing · daring

Recent Favorites

airship · cloud-shadows · ombrophobous · turncoat · metaplasm

Recent Pronunciations

milosrdenstvi · lichen-covered · futon · sagacity · monoragngocious