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sand martin

noun British.
  1. the bank swallow.
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Origin of sand martin

First recorded in 1660–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for sand martin

Historical Examples

  • The sand-martin, the house-martin's cousin, prefers the side of a cliff.

    The Children's Book of London

    Geraldine Edith Mitton

  • The sand-martin arrives much about the same time with the swallow, and lays, as she does, from four to six white eggs.

  • The sand-martin has several broods in the year, and is more regular than other Hirundinidae in its departure for the south.

  • Perhaps the word "build" is scarcely the right one, inasmuch as the nest is even more simple than that of the sand-martin.

    Bible Animals;

    J. G. Wood

  • The Indian sand-martin (Cotile sinensis) is, I believe, the smallest of the swallow tribe.

    Jungle Folk

    Douglas Dewar

British Dictionary definitions for sand martin

sand martin

noun
  1. a small brown European songbird, Riparia riparia, with white underparts: it nests in tunnels bored in sand, river banks, etc: family Hirundinidae (swallows and martins)
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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