robin
1 Americannoun
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any of several small Old World birds having a red or reddish breast, especially Erithacus rubecula, of Europe.
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a large American thrush, Turdus migratorius, having a chestnut-red breast and abdomen.
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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.
noun
noun
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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
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a North American thrush, Turdus migratorius , similar to but larger than the Old World robin
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any of various similar birds having a reddish breast
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.
Vocabulary lists containing robin
Birds, Birds, Birds, List 2
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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:
Canada also beat the British quartet in the round robin this month.
From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026
Not even from dreaded rival Canada, which was missing injured star Marie-Philip Poulin, and fell to Team USA 5-0 in the opening round robin.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
The centrepiece of the weekend will be a three-team round robin tournament with two teams of United States players and a World squad of global talent.
From Barron's ● Jan. 19, 2026
Videos of his visits posted on social media by Tom's son have attracted "millions" of views, making him possibly the most famous robin in the world.
From BBC ● Dec. 24, 2025
So I stood and listened, just for a minute, like a hungry robin listening for worms.
From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell
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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
To many, “The Robin Byrd Show” probably looks tame, even PG-13, by today’s standards.
From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2026
When Robin is sure that the danger is contained, he comes back in, plops down in his bed and falls asleep.
From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan
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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
With a catfish-shaped body and face, sea robins come in a wide range of colors: Red-brown and orange to subtler hues of silver and gray.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2024
And earthworms are the principal food of robins in the spring.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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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.