Dictionary.com

redstart

[ red-stahrt ]
/ ˈrɛdˌstɑrt /
Save This Word!

noun
any of several small, Old World thrushes, usually with reddish-brown tails, especially Phoenicurus phoenicurus(European redstart ).
any of several fly-catching, New World warblers, especially Setophaga ruticilla(American redstart ), having black and white plumage with reddish-orange patches.
QUIZ
THINGAMABOB OR THINGUMMY: CAN YOU DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE US AND UK TERMS IN THIS QUIZ?
Do you know the difference between everyday US and UK terminology? Test yourself with this quiz on words that differ across the Atlantic.
Question 1 of 7
In the UK, COTTON CANDY is more commonly known as…

Origin of redstart

1560–70; red1 + obsolete start tail (Middle English start, stert tail, handle, Old English steort tail; akin to Old High German sterz,Old Norse stertr)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use redstart in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for redstart

redstart
/ (ˈrɛdˌstɑːt) /

noun
any European songbird of the genus Phoenicurus, esp P. phoenicurus, in which the male has a black throat, orange-brown tail and breast, and grey back: family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc)
any North American warbler of the genus Setophaga, esp S. ruticilla

Word Origin for redstart

Old English rēad red 1 + steort tail; compare German Rotsterz
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
FEEDBACK