puffbird

American

[puhf-burd] / ˈpʌfˌbɜrd /

noun

any of several tropical American birds of the family Bucconidae, related to the barbets, having a large head with the feathers often fluffed out.

puffbird British

/ ˈpʌfˌbɜːd /

noun

any of various brownish tropical American birds of the family Bucconidae, having a large head: order Piciformes (woodpeckers, etc)

"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

Etymology

Origin of puffbird

First recorded in 1815–25; puff + bird

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.

After analyzing its DNA, Whitney realized he’d found a new species of puffbird: stout, fluffy birds with exceptionally large heads that live mostly solitary lives in the Amazonian treetops.

From Science Magazine

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023