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.
Cronus, who had been with the former defence secretary since he was a hatchling, achieved internet fame after reports about his life alongside his owner in Westminster emerged in 2016.
From BBC ● May 22, 2026
One hatchling overturned more than 20 times during a single attempt.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 24, 2025
After several years of disappointment, there was a sign Sunday that the Big Bear bald eagle couple Jackie and Shadow may soon have a hatchling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2025
The fluid would have had the additional benefit of nourishing the hatchling mammals once they broke out.
From Slate ● Aug. 13, 2024
Like a hatchling breaking from a shell, Roz climbed out into the world.
From "The Wild Robot" by Peter Brown
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
