linnet
Americannoun
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a small Old World finch, Carduelis cannabina.
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any of various related birds, as the house finch.
noun
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a brownish Old World finch, Acanthis cannabina : the male has a red breast and forehead
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Also called: house finch. a similar and related North American bird, Carpodacus mexicanus
Etymology
Origin of linnet
1520–30; earlier linet < Middle French (Walloon, Picard ) linette ( French linot, linotte ), derivative of lin flax ( cf. line 1; so named for its diet of flaxseeds); see -et
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.
They provide habitat for red-listed farmland birds such as corn bunting, yellowhammer and linnet, as well as winter food for visiting species including fieldfares and redwings.
From BBC ● Mar. 15, 2026
Louder yet calmer than they, among the trees, sounded the yellowhammer, the linnet and greenfinch.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
A startled linnet fled from the whirling blades towards the rose-garden.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
“I think,” said Ida, “I should like a linnet, if I knew how to treat it.”
From Aileen Aroon, A Memoir With other Tales of Faithful Friends and Favourites by Stables, Gordon
The robin, thrush, oriole and linnet will come early and stay late.
From A Breeze from the Woods, 2nd Ed. by Bartlett, William Chauncey
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.
