lintwhite
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of lintwhite
before 900; lint (syncopated variant of linnet ) + white; replacing Middle English lynkwhytte, alteration (perhaps by association with link hill ( see links) and whit ) of Old English līnetwige linnet, literally, flax (or flax-field) trouble-maker, so called because the bird pecks out and eats flaxseed, equivalent to līnet- (< Medieval Latin līnētum flax-field) + -wige, feminine of wiga fighter
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.
A lintwhite was flying by them, and they gave chase.
From Foes by Johnston, Mary
She wi' the lintwhite locks is your sister, we guess, and the ither is Alizon—and, by our troth, a weel-faur'd lass.
From The Lancashire Witches A Romance of Pendle Forest by Ainsworth, William Harrison
In vain to me the cowslips blaw, In vain to me the vi’lets spring; In vain to me, in glen or shaw, The mavis and the lintwhite sing.
From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Burns, Robert
In vain to me the cowslips blaw, In vain to me the violets spring; In vain to me in glen or shaw, The mavis and the lintwhite sing.
From The Home Book of Verse — Volume 3 by Stevenson, Burton Egbert
In vain to me the cowslips blaw, In vain to me the vi'lets spring; In vain to me in glen or shaw, The mavis and the lintwhite sing.
From Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Burns, Robert
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.
