Examples Word Origin
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. Show More
Origin of blackbird 1480–90; earlier
blacke bride. See
black ,
bird Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
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.
If the recovery agency is shut down, Blackbird would likely pick up the rescue business as it is outsourced.
Blackbird is run by CEO Peggy Styer, an investor once labeled a "serial defense entrepreneur" by CNN.
The day after, the second of June, I listen to the blackbird .
Historical Examples of blackbird A note of exultation in his laugh, like that in a blackbird 's call, alone proclaimed it.
Yet the blackbird is older even than I. Go listen to her story.
However, when you can't get a thrush, eat a blackbird , as the proverb says.
No amount of hushing has any effect; you might just as well hush a blackbird or a thrush.
That'll spake to you like the blackbird 's whistle, as the saying is.
British Dictionary definitions for blackbird 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 Show More
(tr) (formerly) to kidnap and sell into slavery Show More
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 n. 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.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
