Definitions

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) A variety of pigeon, with a crest somewhat resembling the mane of a horse.

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

  • noun A variety of pigeon, with a crest somewhat resembling the mane of a horse.

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • The corn-factor's mien was half admiring, and yet it was not without a dash of pity for the tastes of any one who could care to give his mind to such finnikin details.

    The Mayor of Casterbridge 1887

  • The corn-factor's mien was half admiring, and yet it was not without a dash of pity for the tastes of any one who could care to give his mind to such finnikin details.

    The Mayor of Casterbridge Thomas Hardy 1884

  • To worry the surface of applied, inlaid, or cut stuff with finnikin stitchery, is practically to confess either the inadequacy of the design or the fidgetiness of the worker.

    Art in Needlework A Book about Embroidery Mary Buckle 1877

  • As previously observed, all are eminently sociable; all dislike to perch or roost, and refuse to build in trees; all lay two eggs, and this is not a universal rule with the Columbidæ; all, as far as I can hear, require the same time for hatching their eggs; all can endure the same great range of climate; all prefer the same food, and are passionately fond of salt; all exhibit (with the asserted exception of the finnikin and turner, which do not differ much in any other character) the same peculiar gestures when courting the females; and all (with the exception of trumpeters and laughers, which likewise do not differ much in any other character) coo in the same peculiar manner, unlike the voice of any other wild pigeon.

    The Variation of Animals and Plants Under Domestication, Vol. I. Charles Darwin 1845

Comments

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  • In the Mayor of Casterbride, I do not believe that this word means a bird. I believe it means maybe something like "small" or "frivolous"? Not sure.

    August 10, 2012