Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several Central and South American birds of the genus Icterus, especially I. icterus of northern South America, having orange and black plumage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
troopial .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of bright-colored American birds belonging to Icterus and allied genera, especially
Icterus icterus , a native of the West Indies and South America. Many of the species are calledorioles in America.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun An
oriole , Icterus icterus, with black head, long tail, and bulkybill .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Flocks of birds, a kind of troupial, were flying past me overhead, flock succeeding flock, on their way to their roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like chirp; and there was something ethereal too in those drops of melodious sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops falling into a pool to mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of earth.
Green Mansions 2004
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Flocks of birds, a kind of troupial, were flying past me overhead, flock succeeding flock, on their way to their roosting-place, uttering as they flew a clear, bell-like chirp; and there was something ethereal too in those drops of melodious sound, which fell into my heart like raindrops falling into a pool to mix their fresh heavenly water with the water of earth.
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A scarlet-breasted troupial of La Plata perches conspicuously on a tall plant in afield, and at intervals soars up vertically, singing, and, at the highest ascending point, flight and song end in a kind of aerial somersault and vocal flourish at the same moment.
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In the various species of the genus Cnipolegus, already mentioned, the difference in the sexes is just as great as in the case of the troupial: the solitary, intensely black, statuesque male has, we have seen, a set and highly fantastic performance; but on more than one occasion I have seen four or five females of one species meet together and have a little simple performance all to themselves -- in form a kind of lively mock fight.
reesetee commented on the word troupial
Any of several tropical American birds of the genus Icterus, related to the orioles and New World blackbirds.
June 21, 2008