chaffinch

[ chaf-inch ]

/ ˈtʃæf ɪntʃ /

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noun

a common finch, Fringilla coelebs, of the Old World, often kept as a pet.

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Origin of chaffinch

1400–50; late Middle English chaffynche,Old English ceaffinc.See chaff¹, finch

Words nearby chaffinch

chafe, chafer, chafeweed, chaff, chaffer, chaffinch, chaffy, chafing dish, Chaga, Chagall, Chagall, Marc

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use chaffinch in a sentence

The Professor threw some crumbs to a chaffinch, which had flown down within a few yards of the tea-table.
The Daughters of Danaus|Mona Caird
Is not our own little goldfinch, is not the pert chaffinch that comes up to our very feet for a grain or a crumb, a pretty object?
The Romance of Natural History, Second Series|Philip Henry Gosse
There is no one to talk to except a chaffinch, who thinks of nothing but his appearance.
Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 150, February 2, 1916|Various
The decrease of the chaffinch is most regretted by the East-enders, who have an extraordinary admiration for that bird.
Birds in London|W. H. Hudson

The chaffinch was very much in evidence, continually chaunting its unimportant little ditty.
Theodore Roosevelt|Theodore Roosevelt

British Dictionary definitions for chaffinch

chaffinch

/ (ˈtʃæfɪntʃ) /

noun

a common European finch, Fringilla coelebs, with black and white wings and, in the male, a reddish body and blue-grey head

Word Origin for chaffinch

Old English ceaffinc, from ceaf chaff 1 + finc finch

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