firebird

American

[fahyuhr-burd] / ˈfaɪərˌbɜrd /

noun

any of several small birds having bright red or orange plumage, especially the Baltimore oriole.

firebird British

/ ˈfaɪəˌbɜːd /

noun

any of various songbirds having a bright red plumage, esp the Baltimore oriole

"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

Etymology

Origin of firebird

First recorded in 1815–25; fire + bird

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.

“Phoenix Rising,” which Giddens brings to Wolf Trap, is the first of many grand visions she has for the ensemble — and it’s not your standard firebird suite.

From Washington Post • Jul. 16, 2022

It ends: “soon enough, the christmas log / will expire, but the firebird shall not. / soon enough, no doubt, so shall i, / but our love will live on in the firebird.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2021

Consistently exemplary behavior on the part of a firebird can lead to an “executive” designation—along with a gray shirt.

From Slate • Mar. 8, 2017

“This new drop has more iconic Adidas colors,” says Wang, “like the firebird blue, the Stan Smith green and the soccer-jersey orange.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2017

“I said, ‘If the birds had such kinship that when one of them died, so did the other one, then what did the second firebird lose?

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023