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hairy woodpecker

American  

noun

  1. a North American woodpecker, Picoides villosus, resembling but larger than the downy woodpecker.


Etymology

Origin of hairy woodpecker

An Americanism dating back to 1720–30

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:

He points out a hairy woodpecker pounding away at a snag.

From Seattle Times Dec. 1, 2023

A photo caption that accompanied an image with the article misidentified a downy woodpecker as a hairy woodpecker, and a group of bright yellow finches or vireos was referred to only as “birds.”

From Washington Post Apr. 7, 2023

The downy woodpecker and the hairy woodpecker are two species that live in the same habitats.

From Textbooks Jun. 9, 2022

Four birds have been elusive: the hairy woodpecker, bank swallow, cliff swallow and northern rough-winged swallow.

From Washington Times Mar. 19, 2016

Downy flew to another branch, and I tossed up a stone against the one that contained the hole, when, with a sharp, steely note, out came a hairy woodpecker and alighted on a near-by branch.

From Ways of Nature by Burroughs, John

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