rifle bird
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of rifle bird
First recorded in 1825–35
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.
Armed with a 12-bore sawn-off shotgun and a .22 rifle, Bird called victims over to his car during the rampage as if to ask the time, then shot them, the hearing was told.
From BBC
“The rifle bird; a near relative, I believe, to the birds of paradise.”
From Project Gutenberg
He raised his gun to shoot the rifle bird, but lowered it again.
From Project Gutenberg
Then there is that beautiful purply black kind of crow—the rifle bird they call it.
From Project Gutenberg
Then Lane found a few of the beautiful metallic rifle bird, all glossy purply green.
From Project Gutenberg
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.