broadbill

American  

[brawd-bil] / ˈbrɔdˌbɪl /

noun

1. any of several small, often brightly colored passerine birds of the family Eurylaimidae, of the Old World tropics, having a broad, flattened bill.

2. any of various birds with a broad bill, as the scaup duck, shoveler, and spoonbill.

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broadbill British  

/ ˈbrɔːdˌbɪl /

noun

1. any passerine bird of the family Eurylaimidae , of tropical Africa and Asia, having bright plumage and a short wide bill

2. any of various wide-billed birds, such as the scaup and shoveler

3. another name for swordfish

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Etymology

Origin of broadbill

First recorded in 1625–35; broad + bill ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

broadbill

Technically the only true swordfish is the broadbill.

From Time Magazine Archive

Taxidermist Parker, no novice at fish painting, once tinted a broadbill purple for R. H. Grey, brother of Author Zane Grey, who assured her that was the way they looked under water.

From Time Magazine Archive

Most spectacular of Atlantic game fish are the swordfish family: sailfish, marlin, broadbill.

From Time Magazine Archive

Experts estimate that the odds against an angler simply spotting a broadbill on any given day are 10 to 1.

From Time Magazine Archive

It could have been a marlin or a broadbill or a shark.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway