phoebe
[ fee-bee ]
/ ˈfi bi /
|
noun
any of several small American flycatchers of the genus Sayornis, especially S. phoebe, of eastern North America.
RELATED CONTENT
Are New Idioms Ever Created?Many idioms—expressions that are not taken literally—are so old and so familiar that we don’t think twice about using them. We say, for example, “it’s raining cats and dogs” to indicate that it’s pouring outside, and “comfortable as an old shoe” to explain an easy and familiar relationship. We can trace the etymology of some idioms to books and sayings that were first used hundreds …
Nearby words
phocine, phocion, phocis, phocomelia, phocomelic dwarf, phoebe, phoebus, phoenicia, phoenician, phoenix, phoenix islands
Origin of phoebe
Definition for phoebe (2 of 2)
Phoebe
[ fee-bee ]
/ ˈfi bi /
noun
Classical Mythology. a Titan, daughter of Uranus and Gaea and mother of Leto, later identified with Artemis and with the Roman goddess Diana.
Astronomy. one of the moons of Saturn.
Literary. the moon personified.
a female given name.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for phoebe
British Dictionary definitions for phoebe (1 of 3)
phoebe
/ (ˈfiːbɪ) /
noun
any of several greyish-brown North American flycatchers of the genus Sayornis, such as S. phoebe (eastern phoebe)
Word Origin for phoebe
C19: imitative of the bird's call
British Dictionary definitions for phoebe (2 of 3)
Phoebe
1Phebe
/ (ˈfiːbɪ) /
noun
classical myth a Titaness, who later became identified with Artemis (Diana) as goddess of the moon
poetic a personification of the moon
British Dictionary definitions for phoebe (3 of 3)
Phoebe
2/ (ˈfiːbɪ) /
noun
the outermost satellite of the planet Saturn. It has retrograde motion and a dark surface
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