hatchling
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of hatchling
Explanation
A hatchling is a baby bird that's just hatched from an egg. Any other animal that hatches from an egg is also a hatchling. Since you are human, you are NOT a hatchling. While hatchling is most often used for a young bird, newly-born turtles, tadpoles, and newts are all hatchlings too. Sometimes people find bird hatchlings in distress and nurse them back to health. Occasionally, these hatchlings seem to see their human caregivers as parents. Hatchling uses the diminutive -ling suffix, like the words gosling or duckling.
Vocabulary lists containing hatchling
The Wild Robot
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The View from Saturday
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Wolf Hollow
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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.
Tragically, one hatchling died during heavy snowfall, but two — dubbed Sunny and Gizmo — survived the harsh season, spread their wings and flew away.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 24, 2026
Without thoughtful intervention, these dense seaweed mats could gradually undermine hatchling survival and long-term conservation efforts.
From Science Daily • Nov. 24, 2025
Despite his antics, the giant predator is adored, having joined Mr Sullivan’s household as a hatchling the same day his daughter was born 22 years ago.
From BBC • Aug. 23, 2024
The fluid would have had the additional benefit of nourishing the hatchling mammals once they broke out.
From Slate • Aug. 13, 2024
But they were awfully curious why she was carrying a hatchling on her shoulder.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
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.
