blackbird

[ blak-burd ]
/ ˈblækˌbɜrd /

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.

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Origin of blackbird

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

Words nearby blackbird

blackbeard, blackbeetle, blackbelly rosefish, blackberry, blackberry lily, blackbird, blackbirder, blackbirding, blackboard, blackboard jungle, blackboard learn
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for blackbird

British Dictionary definitions for blackbird

blackbird
/ (ˈblækˌbɜːd) /

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