blackbird

[blak-burd]

noun

a common European thrush, Turdus merula, the male of which is black with a yellow bill.

any of several American birds of the family Icteridae, having black plumage.Compare crow blackbird, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird.

any of several other unrelated birds having black plumage in either or both sexes.

(formerly) a person, especially a Kanaka, who was kidnapped and sold abroad, usually in Australia, as a slave.

verb (used with object)

to kidnap (a person), as in blackbirding.

verb (used without object)

to engage in blackbirding.

Origin of blackbird

1480–90; earlier blacke bride. See black, bird

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for blackbird

Contemporary Examples of blackbird

Today Black is a senior vice president for Blackbird Technologies, a Virginia based security contractor.
Meet Mitt Romney’s Trusted Envoy to the Dark Side, Cofer Black
Eli Lake
April 11, 2012
If the recovery agency is shut down, Blackbird would likely pick up the rescue business as it is outsourced.
America's New Mercenaries
Tim Shorrock
December 15, 2010
Blackbird is run by CEO Peggy Styer, an investor once labeled a "serial defense entrepreneur" by CNN.
America's New Mercenaries
Tim Shorrock
December 15, 2010
The day after, the second of June, I listen to the blackbird.
My Gaza Flotilla Diary
Henning Mankell
June 4, 2010

Historical Examples of blackbird

A note of exultation in his laugh, like that in a blackbird's call, alone proclaimed it.
Viviette
William J. Locke
Yet the blackbird is older even than I. Go listen to her story.
Welsh Fairy Tales
William Elliott Griffis
However, when you can't get a thrush, eat a blackbird, as the proverb says.
A Comedy of Marriage and Other Tales
Guy De Maupassant
No amount of hushing has any effect; you might just as well hush a blackbird or a thrush.
Jan and Her Job
L. Allen Harker
That'll spake to you like the blackbird's whistle, as the saying is.
The Manxman
Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for blackbird

blackbird

noun

a common European thrush, Turdus merula, in which the male has a black plumage and yellow bill and the female is brown

any of various American orioles having a dark plumage, esp any of the genus Agelaius

history a person, esp a South Sea Islander, who was kidnapped and sold as a slave, esp in Australia

verb

(tr) (formerly) to kidnap and sell into slavery

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

Word Origin and History for blackbird

late 15c. (late 13c. as a surname), from black (adj.) + bird (n.1). OED says so called for being the only "black" (really dark brown) bird among the songbirds, reflecting an older sense of bird that did not include rooks, crows, ravens.