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bulbul

[boo l-boo l]
See more synonyms for bulbul on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a songbird often mentioned in Persian poetry, regarded as being a nightingale.
  2. any of several oscine birds of the family Pycnonotidae, of the Old World tropics.
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Origin of bulbul

Borrowed into English from Persian around 1775–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for bulbul

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Don't you remember the grand Oriental ballet of the "Bulbul and the Peri?"

    The Wolves and the Lamb

    William Makepeace Thackeray

  • Miss Clapperclaw says Bulbul is evidently smitten, and Clara too.

    The Christmas Books

    William Makepeace Thackeray

  • Bulbul's dinners are, I own, very good; his pilaffs and curries excellent.

    The Christmas Books

    William Makepeace Thackeray

  • Its crest is pointed and its cheeks are white like those of an Otocompsa bulbul.

  • A speckled black-and-white woodpecker about the size of a bulbul.

British Dictionary definitions for bulbul

bulbul

noun
  1. any songbird of the family Pycnonotidae of tropical Africa and Asia, having brown plumage and, in many species, a distinct crest
  2. a songbird, taken to be the nightingale, often mentioned in Persian poetry
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Word Origin

C18: via Persian from Arabic
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