kingfisher

[ king-fish-er ]

/ ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃ ər /

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noun

any of numerous fish- or insect-eating birds of the family Alcedinidae that have a large head and a long, stout bill and are usually crested and brilliantly colored.

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Origin of kingfisher

1400–50; king + fisher; replacing king's fisher,late Middle English kinges fisher

Words nearby kingfisher

kingdom for a horse!, My, Kingdom Hall, kingdom of ends, king fern, kingfish, kingfisher, kingfisher daisy, King George's War, king-hit, kinghood, King Horn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use kingfisher in a sentence

For The Kingfisher River Bank, Potter killed a whole family of kingfishers (and seized seven of their eggs).
Dead and Beautiful: The Art of Taxidermy|William O’Connor|April 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
As well as about the Vale ponds, the Kingfisher breeds in holes in the rocks all round the Island.
Birds of Guernsey (1879)|Cecil Smith
As I was stooping down, hidden by a rock, I saw a kingfisher slowly floating toward the beach.
Laboulaye's Fairy Book|Various
Though their plumage is prettily varied, still it falls far short of the brilliancy displayed by the English kingfisher.
Wanderings in South America|Charles Waterton

February marks the beginning of the nesting season of the handsome pied kingfisher (Ceryle rudis).
A Bird Calendar for Northern India|Douglas Dewar
The nest of the pied kingfisher is a circular tunnel or burrow, more than a yard in length, excavated in a river bank.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India|Douglas Dewar

British Dictionary definitions for kingfisher

kingfisher

/ (ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃə) /

noun

any coraciiform bird of the family Alcedinidae, esp the Eurasian Alcedo atthis, which has a greenish-blue and orange plumage. Kingfishers have a large head, short tail, and long sharp bill and tend to live near open water and feed on fish

Word Origin for kingfisher

C15: originally king's fisher

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