Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun One of numerous Old World (chiefly African and Indian) conirostral passerine birds, noted for the dexterity and ingenuity with which they weave the materials of their nests into a textile fabric, and also for the extraordinary size and un usual shape of some of these structures.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word weaver-bird.
Examples
-
Sonny Sahib recognised the force of public opinion, and left the weaver-bird to her house - keeping in peace, but he felt privately injured by it.
The Story of Sonny Sahib Sara Jeannette Duncan
-
The building weaver-bird betakes itself to a clump of elephant-grass, and, perching on one of the blades, makes a notch in another near the base.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916
-
The nest of the Indian wren-warbler (_Prinia inornata_) is, except for its shape and its smaller size, very like that of a weaver-bird.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916
-
Having secured its prize the weaver-bird proceeds to tear off one or two more strands and then flies with these in its bill to the nesting site, uttering cries of delight.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916
-
'Give a woman an old wife's tale and a weaver-bird a leaf and a thread', they will weave wonderful things, 'said the Sikh.
Kim Rudyard Kipling 1900
-
It is the community house of the little sociable weaver-bird of South
The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals A Book of Personal Observations William Temple Hornaday 1895
-
I walked to the hills, over a level cultivated country interspersed with occasional belts of low wood; in which the pensile nests of the weaver-bird were abundant, but generally hanging out of reach, in prickly _Acacias.
-
You are not to suppose that there is but one species of weaver-bird -- one kind alone that forms these curious nests.
Popular Adventure Tales Mayne Reid 1850
-
They were of the species known as the "pensile weaver-bird."
Popular Adventure Tales Mayne Reid 1850
-
They were of the species known as the "pensile weaver-bird" (_Ploceus pensilis_).
The Bush Boys History and Adventures of a Cape Farmer and his Family Mayne Reid 1850
chained_bear commented on the word weaver-bird
"Weaver-birds flew in clouds, and down by the water various kinds of duck moved in surprising quantities..."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 218
March 4, 2008