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  • robin
    robin
    noun
    any of several small Old World birds having a red or reddish breast, especially Erithacus rubecula, of Europe.
  • Robin
    Robin
    noun
    a male or female given name: derived from Robert.

robin

1 American  
[rob-in] / ˈrɒb ɪn /

noun

robins plural
  1. any of several small Old World birds having a red or reddish breast, especially Erithacus rubecula, of Europe.

  2. a large American thrush, Turdus migratorius, having a chestnut-red breast and abdomen.

  3. any of several similar thrushes of the New World tropics, not necessarily having reddish underparts, as T. grayi clay-colored robin, of Mexico and Central America.


Robin 2 American  
[rob-in] / ˈrɒb ɪn /

noun

  1. a male or female given name: derived from Robert.


robin British  
/ ˈrɒbɪn /

noun

  1. Also called: robin redbreast.  a small Old World songbird, Erithacus rubecula , related to the thrushes: family Muscicapidae . The male has a brown back, orange-red breast and face, and grey underparts

  2. a North American thrush, Turdus migratorius , similar to but larger than the Old World robin

  3. any of various similar birds having a reddish breast

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

Etymology

Origin of robin

First recorded in 1540–50; short for robin redbreast

Explanation

The sweet-sounding, red-chested birds that symbolize the beginning of spring are robins. There are actually many different birds called robins, and while most share a reddish-orange breast, they're actually distantly related to each other. In the U.S., the bird we think of as a robin is officially the American robin, a kind of thrush. It's the most common land bird in North America, and it's famous for laying eggs very early in the spring — and singing at the crack of dawn. The robin's most deadly predator is the domesticated cat.

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Vocabulary lists containing robin

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:

The wheelchair curling team round robin comes to an end.

From BBC Mar. 4, 2026

Sweden believed one of the Canadians was repeatedly double-touching, giving the stone another little prod with his finger to correct its course during Friday's round robin match.

From Barron's Feb. 14, 2026

It's the final day of the curling round robin stage, with the semi-final line-ups to be determined and – in the case of the men's competition – played on the same day.

From BBC Feb. 2, 2026

Microphones recorded 21 distress calls from the robin, followed by 23 minutes of chewing as the bat flew low, feeding on the wing.

From Science Daily Nov. 2, 2025

Sula stepped off the Cincinnati Flyer into the robin shit and began the long climb up into the Bottom.

From "Sula" by Toni Morrison

The museum will also screen “Seeing Is Believing: The Story of Narrative Art,” a new documentary series it commissioned from Robin Dashwood.

From Los Angeles Times Jul. 24, 2026

"Psychedelic means 'psyche-revealing,' or making the psyche visible," said senior author Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD, the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor of Neurology at UCSF.

From Science Daily Jul. 22, 2026

K3 is a “home run” that represents another instance in which China’s top AI labs keeping pace with the U.S. frontier has surprised global investors, Robin Zhu and others say.

From The Wall Street Journal Jul. 17, 2026

“But if you don’t have a loved one nearby,” she continued, “you always have me: Robin Byrd.”

From Salon Jul. 10, 2026

I kept my gloves on and stayed beside Robin.

From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen

Donovan has taken full advantage of the home’s surroundings, regularly sharing videos of the garden on his Instagram account, including a January 2023 clip of a flock of robins visiting a birdbath on the grounds.

From MarketWatch Apr. 10, 2026

Market hunters used shotguns, nets and traps to fill traincars with passenger pigeons—as well as robins, woodpeckers, blackbirds and orioles.

From The Wall Street Journal Mar. 23, 2026

"They're so feisty, robins, so he wasn't giving up without a fight," she added.

From BBC Feb. 2, 2026

"Moving forward, Corey and Amy plan to dissect the mechanisms by which sea robins develop sensory legs for understanding where limbs come and how they specialize for various forms of sensation," Bellono said.

From Salon Sep. 27, 2024

I suppose I should clean the kitchen and vacuum, but the windows are open and robins sing on the front lawn, where a pile of mulch with my name on it is waiting.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

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