noun
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Also called: anhinga. snakebird. any aquatic bird of the genus Anhinga and family Anhingidae, of tropical and subtropical inland waters, having a long slender neck and bill: order Pelecaniformes (pelicans, cormorants, etc)
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any small brightly coloured North American freshwater fish of the genus Etheostoma and related genera: family Percidae (perches)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of darter
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:
Just one plant is on the list - the green-winged orchid - alongside a large number of invertebrates including the pearl-bordered fritillary butterfly and the black darter dragonfly.
From BBC ● Apr. 27, 2026
It involved the snail darter, a tiny, then-endangered fish whose habitat would have been harmed by the proposed Tellico Dam in Tennessee.
From Salon ● Apr. 7, 2026
Freshwater fanshell mussels rely on darter fish, including the tangerine and Roanoke, for their survival.
From National Geographic ● Dec. 12, 2023
Supreme Court ruled, surprisingly, that the ESA gave the darter priority even over an almost finished dam.
From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023
They trudged past darter birds on the tops of trees, drying their sodden wings spread out like laundry against the sky.
From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy
"At 17, Michael was unbelievable, the same as Luke, hitting nine darters in TV tournaments," Bray told BBC Radio 5 Live.
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2024
At one point in the proceedings Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., asked him, “What purpose is served, if any, by these little darters? Are they used for food?”
From Scientific American ● Oct. 20, 2023
The dam eventually was built, with snail darters collected and transplanted into other rivers.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 4, 2022
What annoys Craig Belke is the Disney darters who jump in front of him as he carefully edges his scooter along, trying to keep a gap between himself and the person ahead of him.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 28, 2019
Egrets, night-herons, cormorants, darters, paddy-birds, openbills, and spoonbills build stick nests in trees.
From A Bird Calendar for Northern India by Dewar, Douglas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
