alternate plumage

Save This Word!

(of birds having more than one plumage in their cycle of molts) the plumage of the second molt, usually brighter than the basic plumage.

QUIZZES

Apostrophes can be tricky; prove you know the difference between it’s and its in this crafty quiz!

Question 1 of 12

On the farm, the feed for chicks is significantly different from the roosters’; ______ not even comparable.

In the absence of typical classrooms and curriculums, West Africans have opted for alternate methods of learning and education.
The Radio Battle to Educate Ebola’s Kids|Abby Haglage|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Then at least the American public would have been getting an alternate theory of the case about Keystone.
For Obama, Hell Week Has Arrived|Michael Tomasky|November 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Underneath, a miniature version of the bug-crazy man is revealed, himself thwacking away in an alternate dimension.
‘Interstellar’ Is Wildly Ambitious, Very Flawed, and Absolutely Worth Seeing|Marlow Stern|November 7, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The other two are da—meaning father—and te—an alternate spelling of ti.
Well, La Ti Da: Stephin Merritt’s Winning Little Words of Scrabble|David Bukszpan|October 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Other new admissions to the dictionary include qayaq—an alternate spelling of kayak—and thongy.
Well, La Ti Da: Stephin Merritt’s Winning Little Words of Scrabble|David Bukszpan|October 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The alternate hexameter and pentameter are, for most purposes, a more agreeable measure than the hexameter by itself.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
Should it fail, the fluid can generally be pumped out by alternate compression of the tube and the bulb.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
She adds that it was an adult male in full plumage, and that she saw it herself at Mr. Couch's shop.
Birds of Guernsey (1879)|Cecil Smith
The two dead ones he brought me were one in red and the other in green plumage, and the live one was in green plumage.
Birds of Guernsey (1879)|Cecil Smith
It was, however, still in the same green plumage when it was killed as it was when I brought it home, though it had moulted twice.
Birds of Guernsey (1879)|Cecil Smith