Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various seed-eating songbirds of the family Estrildidae and especially of the genus Estrilda, native to Africa and introduced elsewhere, and having a short, often brightly colored waxy beak.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One of numerous small Old World birds of the family Ploceidæ and subfamily Spermestinæ, whose bills have a certain waxen appearance, due to the translucency of the horny covering, which may be white, pink, red, etc.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of finchlike birds belonging to Estrelda and allied genera, native of Asia, Africa, and Australia. The bill is large, conical, and usually red in color, resembling sealing wax. Several of the species are often kept as cage birds.

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

  • noun Any bird of the genus Estrilda.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

wax +‎ bill

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