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cage bird

American  

noun

  1. a bird that is commonly kept in a cage as a pet.


Etymology

Origin of cage bird

First recorded in 1620–30


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Be no cage bird who will not fly out into the sunlight when the door is opened freely.

From A Friend of Caesar A Tale of the Fall of the Roman Republic. Time, 50-47 B.C. by William Stearns Davis

Beloved in its home by both Americans and Germans, it is protected and caught only for the cage bird fancy.

From Ohio Arbor Day 1913: Arbor and Bird Day Manual Issued for the Benefit of the Schools of our State by Grace R. Clifton

My father has presented me with a beautiful house here—or so I believe, for I have not yet seen it, being a cage bird, but for nocturnal sorties in the garden.

From Philip Gilbert Hamerton An Autobiography, 1834-1858, and a Memoir by His Wife, 1858-1894 by Philip Gilbert Hamerton

This is one of the species most usually kept in Europe as a cage bird.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 6 "Cockaigne" to "Columbus, Christopher" by Various

My father has presented me with a beautiful house here - or so I believe, for I have not yet seen it, being a cage bird but for nocturnal sorties in the garden.

From Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson — Volume 1 by Robert Louis Stevenson

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