goldfinch

[gohld-finch]

noun

1. a European finch, Carduelis carduelis, having a crimson face and wings marked with yellow.

2. any of certain related American finches of the genus Carduelis, as C. tristis, the male of which has yellow body plumage in the summer.

goldfinch

/ ˈɡəʊldˌfɪntʃ /

noun

1. a common European finch, Carduelis carduelis, the adult of which has a red-and-white face and yellow-and-black wings

2. any of several North American finches of the genus Spinus, esp the yellow-and-black species S. tristis

Word History and Origins

Origin of goldfinch¹

before 1000; Middle English; Old English goldfinc. See gold, finch

Example Sentences

His fateful choice that day — rescuing, or some might say stealing, a precious painting of a goldfinch — brings him solace.

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Then other birds, like the northern cardinal and the goldfinch.

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At the farm, would-be consumers are mostly goldfinches.

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“If we don’t have the right habitat for quail, then we probably don’t have the right habitat for a variety of birds and pollinators — from whippoorwills and goldfinches to monarch butterflies and bumble bees.”

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Or maybe it was the native sunflowers that fed bumblebees and goldfinches.

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