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ibis

American  
[ahy-bis] / ˈaɪ bɪs /

noun

ibises, plural ibis plural
  1. any of several large wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae, of warm temperate and tropical regions, related to the herons and storks, and characterized by a long, thin, downward-curved bill.

  2. any of certain similar birds belonging to the stork family Ciconiidae, especially the wood stork, Mycteria americana.


ibis British  
/ ˈaɪbɪs /

noun

  1. any of various wading birds of the family Threskiornithidae, such as Threskiornis aethiopica ( sacred ibis ), that occur in warm regions and have a long thin down-curved bill: order Ciconiiformes (herons, storks, etc) Compare wood ibis

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of ibis

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin ībis < Greek îbis < Egyptian hb

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:

More than a hundred bird species, including ducks, geese, terns, ibis, herons, eagles and vultures, had been recorded in the area, alongside monkeys and small mammals.

From Barron's Feb. 19, 2026

The 1.8m-long cloak, made of 4,000 red feathers from the scarlet ibis bird, was officially unveiled at a ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.

From BBC Sep. 12, 2024

The bird species included tawny frogmouths, laughing kookaburras, blue-faced honeyeaters, rainbow lorikeets, spotted doves and Brisbane favourite, the Australian white ibis.

From Science Daily Dec. 8, 2023

There’s Rameses the ram from North Carolina, Sebastian the ibis from Miami, the stuffed version of Bevo from Texas.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 28, 2022

Thus ibis and mes together form the rebus Thothmes, which name thus means, “born of Thoth.”

From Cleopatra's Needle A History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hieroglyphics by King, James

The honks and squawks of ibises and louries - shuffling silhouettes in the leafless trees.

From BBC Aug. 26, 2023

In past years, he said, the ibises would either “just utilize this for a roosting siteand wouldn’t nest because of the lack of water, or they nested but were unsuccessful in fledging out their young.”

From Los Angeles Times Jun. 1, 2023

Calabro and I talked a little bit about local wildlife: the striped bass, the oystercatchers, the glossy ibises that nest somewhere near the marsh islands around the North Channel Bridge near JFK Airport.

From Slate Sep. 1, 2022

Outliers included big albatrosses and tiny hummingbirds, and ibises with their long, curved beaks.

From Science Magazine Jul. 21, 2022

Somewhere in the papyrus the ibises were sleeping, or perhaps they were awake and listening to him.

From "The House of the Scorpion" by Nancy Farmer

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