snow bunting

noun

a bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, of the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere having white plumage.

Origin of snow bunting

First recorded in 1765–75

Also called snowbird, snowflake.

Words Nearby snow bunting

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use snow bunting in a sentence

At midday, I saw the first flight of the snow bunting (Emberiza nivalis), on the Missouri.
Travels in the Interior of North America, 1832-1834, Part III (the Text Being Chapters XXVIII-XXXIII of the London Edition, 1843, and the Appendix a Combination of the Appendices of the London and German [Coblentz, 1839] Editions) | Maximilian, Prinz von Wied
The sea-gulls circled about, and the snow-bunting whirled around the floes of ice on which the new-fallen snow lay and glittered.
Fridtjof Nansen | Jacob B. Bull
It was a snow-bunting, bringing them a greeting from the west coast, and their hearts grew warm within them at the welcome sound.
Fridtjof Nansen | Jacob B. Bull
The snow bunting (Plectrophanes nivalis), a white bird more or less varied with black.
Kalevala, Volume I (of 2) | Anonymous
Captain Lyon found a child's grave partly uncovered, and a snow-bunting had built its nest upon the infant's bosom.
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for snow bunting

snow bunting

noun

a bunting, Plectrophenax nivalis, of northern and arctic regions, having a white plumage with dark markings on the wings, back, and tail

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

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