ptarmigan
Americannoun
noun
-
any of several arctic and subarctic grouse of the genus Lagopus, esp L. mutus, which has a white winter plumage
-
(sometimes capital) a created domestic fancy pigeon with ruffled or curled feathers on the wings and back
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ptarmigan
1590–1600; pseudo-Greek spelling of Scots Gaelic tarmarchan, akin to Irish tarmanach
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.
See Examples For:
I once flushed a ptarmigan from Aleutian heather—here I’m reminded that these birds turn white when the snow flies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
They also know ptarmigan are especially vulnerable to climate change.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
Scotland is home to Arctic specialists - birds like dotterel, snow bunting and ptarmigan - which are found high on Scotland's mountains.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2022
On the Cairngorm plateau, our sole example of the arctic-alpine biome, the ptarmigan – the only British bird that turns white in winter – is gradually declining, with just a few thousand pairs remaining.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 2, 2020
Miyax found the names so nice that, as she took her cooking pot from the fire to offer her guests hot ptarmigan, she hummed and sang.
From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George
The alpine meadows of the Cascades used by breeding ptarmigans could decline by 95% in the next five decades under current climate-change projections, according to the center.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 23, 2023
We passed grizzly bear mothers lumbering alongside cubs, flocks of ptarmigans and scurrying porcupines.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2021
The herders watch the birds, the snow buntings and ptarmigans, the ravens and bluethroats.
From Scientific American ● Nov. 18, 2019
With the help of their Norwegian colleagues, the scientists set up a "little gym" for their ptarmigans, and kept the room at a chilly 6C to make sure the birds were comfortable.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2012
One day last fall as I was hunting for ptarmigans I saw in the distance a huge brown bear walking about and getting ready for his winter quarters.
From The Land of the Long Night by Du Chaillu, Paul B. (Paul Belloni)
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.
