finch
Americannoun
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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
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.
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
I was talking to this finch expert, and he had said, “Keep the feeders up.”
From Salon • Apr. 29, 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
To test their technology, researchers mapped the genome of the zebra finch, a songbird that had already been sequenced to study brain development.
From Science Daily • Jan. 29, 2024
‘You have the keen eyes of your fair kindred, Legolas,’ he said; ‘and they can tell a sparrow from a finch a league off. Tell me, can you see anything away yonder towards Isengard?’
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
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.
