starling
1a chunky, medium-sized European passerine bird, Sturnus vulgaris, of iridescent black plumage with seasonal speckles, that nests in colonies: introduced into North America.
any of various similar Old World birds of the family Sturnidae.
Origin of starling
1Words Nearby starling
Other definitions for starling (2 of 2)
a pointed cluster of pilings for protecting a bridge pier from drifting ice, debris, etc.
Origin of starling
2Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use starling in a sentence
The flock swirls like a tornado as the attacks continue, and the starlings desperately seek a suitable place to land.
Each winter, starlings gather in large flocks of up to 100,000 individuals across the United Kingdom.
A red-winged starling in South Africa has been seen pecking a small antelope called a klipspringer.
There’s a new word for birds stealing animal hair: kleptotrichy | Jaime Chambers | October 4, 2021 | Science News For StudentsResearchers have seen an American crow harvest hair from a cow and a red-winged starling in Africa peck a small antelope called a klipspringer.
Scientists have a new word for birds stealing animal hair | Jaime Chambers | August 12, 2021 | Science NewsOne of the scientists’ tests was whether a wide pipe — called a baffle — around a pole would keep the predators from reaching a starling nest box at the top.
Newfound technique allows some tree snakes to climb wide trees | Maria Temming | February 1, 2021 | Science News For Students
I read that Michelle Pfeiffer turned down Clarice starling in Silence, is that true?
Jonathan Demme on Gaza, Transphobia in ‘The Silence of the Lambs,’ and Meryl Streep as a Rock Star | Marlow Stern | July 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTNow people from all corners of the sports world are calling for starling to lose his team ownership.
He wasn't returning from FBI target practice with Clarice starling.
Jack caught a starling which was in the act of wriggling out of his coat pocket, and gave it a final twist.
The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands | R.M. BallantyneThe starling, which has been taught to murmur Evelyn's name, to-day shrieked out, 'Eva!
The Circular Study | Anna Katharine GreenYour envy of my corner is wasted upon one who heard you singing a moment since, like the melancholy starling, 'I can't get out!
Alone | Marion HarlandThe Wasp Fly—dubbed with brown bear or cow's hair, ribbed with yellow silk, and the wings of the inside of starling's wing.
The Teesdale Angler | R LakelandThe September Dun—dubbed with the down of a mouse, warped with ash coloured silk, wings feather of a starling.
The Teesdale Angler | R Lakeland
British Dictionary definitions for starling (1 of 3)
/ (ˈstɑːlɪŋ) /
any gregarious passerine songbird of the Old World family Sturnidae, esp Sturnus vulgaris, which has a blackish plumage and a short tail
Origin of starling
1British Dictionary definitions for starling (2 of 3)
/ (ˈstɑːlɪŋ) /
an arrangement of piles that surround a pier of a bridge to protect it from debris, etc
Origin of starling
2British Dictionary definitions for Starling (3 of 3)
/ (ˈstɑːlɪŋ) /
Ernest Henry . 1866–1927, British physiologist, who contributed greatly to the understanding of many bodily functions and with William Bayliss (1860–1924) discovered the hormone secretin (1902)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Browse