finch
Americannoun
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finches
plural
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any of numerous small passerine birds of the family Fringillidae, including the buntings, sparrows, crossbills, purple finches, and grosbeaks, most of which have a short, conical bill adapted for eating seeds.
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any of various nonfringilline birds, especially the weaverbirds of the family Ploceidae and the tropical members of the subfamily Emberizinae.
noun
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any songbird of the family Fringillidae , having a short stout bill for feeding on seeds and, in most species, a bright plumage in the male. Common examples are the goldfinch, bullfinch, chaffinch, siskin, and canary
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any of various similar or related birds
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of finch
before 900; Middle English; Old English finc; cognate with Dutch vink, German Fink; akin to Greek spíngos finch
Explanation
A finch is a small songbird with its defining characteristic being its short, stout bill that is perfect for crushing seeds. Though small, the finch is a bird that made a major contribution to science. In the 1800s, biologist Charles Darwin studied several species of finches found on the Galápagos Islands, taking detailed notes about their variations. His observations of these little birds greatly contributed to Darwin's groundbreaking theory of evolution. Finches are found in various habitats, from woodlands to urban gardens, and they primarily feed on seeds.
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:
When Peter shared their findings with other researchers, a fellow biologist was skeptical of Peter’s claim that a tiny difference in beak size could determine whether a finch lives or dies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
In the middle, a small finch was desperately trying to free his legs, but the more it moved, the more its claws became tangled.
From BBC ● Dec. 28, 2025
However, experiments in birds like the zebra finch help provide some answers as to why this species sings.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2025
After the eggs hatched, the baby birds received one of two treatments—road noise or zebra finch song—for another 9 nights.
From Science Magazine ● Apr. 24, 2024
I cry and watch the house finch come and go, come and go, and then just go.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
He famously wrote about pushing a hawk off a branch with his gun muzzle, a level of approachability that extended to other birds like finches, which ultimately became foundational to his theory of evolution.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
A comparable pattern can be seen in Darwin's finches on the Galápagos Islands, which adapted to different food sources over time.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 11, 2026
Now, house finches, for instance, they have a really terrible disease that’s like pink eye, and it’s really taking them down.
From Salon ● Apr. 29, 2025
On a recent morning, Shultz opened a wooden tray to reveal rows of house finches, a palm-sized bird commonly found in Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 7, 2025
I like house finches; they’re all over New York.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
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.
