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lorikeet

[lawr-i-keet, lor-, lawr-uh-keet, lor-]
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noun
  1. any of various small lories.
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Origin of lorikeet

First recorded in 1765–75; lory + (para)keet
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for lorikeet

Historical Examples

  • In one hand he held his rejected coin; in the other the lorikeet's cage and a few trifles wrapped with a kerchief.

    Where the Pavement Ends

    John Russell

  • He snatched up the lorikeet and flung it down and as the tiny thing flapped and screamed, broken-winged, stamped it underfoot.

  • A small species of Lorikeet (Trichoglossus flavoviridis) seems to have its nearest ally in Australia.

    The Malay Archipelago

    Alfred Russell Wallace

British Dictionary definitions for lorikeet

lorikeet

noun
  1. any of various small lories, such as Glossopsitta versicolor (varied lorikeet) or Trichoglossus moluccanus (rainbow lorikeet)
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Word Origin

C18: from lory + -keet, as in parakeet
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