hedge sparrow

noun

the dunnock.

Nearby words

hedge hyssop, hedge laying, hedge mustard, hedge nettle, hedge one's bets, hedge sparrow, hedge-school, hedgehog, hedgehog cactus, hedgehop, hedger

Origin of hedge sparrow

First recorded in 1520–30

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hedge sparrow

Nearly allied to our hedge-sparrow, and less closely to the Central Asian A. immaculatus.
Island Life|Alfred Russel Wallace
But when she handed him the eggs Little Fawn said "It was not the eggs of the hedge-sparrow we were wont to eat in my time."
The Boy Who Knew What The Birds Said|Padraic Colum
If youd tie the correct label to the hedge-sparrow shed know that, too, he said.
Adrienne Toner|Anne Douglas Sedgwick
It lays about six eggs, which closely resemble those of the Hedge-sparrow, only that they are smaller.
British Birds in their Haunts|Rev. C. A. Johns

Then the pedlar said to the hedge-sparrow, "Pay me for my blanket, or I'll wring your neck."
The Necklace of Princess Fiorimonde and Other Stories|Mary De Morgan

British Dictionary definitions for hedge sparrow

hedge sparrow

noun

a small brownish European songbird, Prunella modularis: family Prunellidae (accentors)Also called: dunnock

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