sparrow
[spar-oh]
- any of numerous American finches of the family Emberizinae.Compare chipping sparrow, song sparrow.
- any member of the Old World genus Passer, formerly thought to be closely related to the weaverbirds but now placed in their own family, Passeridae.
- British. the house sparrow.
- any of several other unrelated small birds.Compare Java sparrow, hedge sparrow.
- (initial capital letter) Military. a 12-foot (4-meter), all-weather, radar-guided U.S. air-to-air missile with an 88-pound (40-kg) high-explosive warhead.
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Origin of sparrow
before 900; Middle English sparowe, Old English spearwa; cognate with Gothic sparwa, Old Norse spǫrr
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sparrow
Contemporary Examples
“No eyes are on the sparrow, eyes are on the sparrow / He is singing anyway.”
Before she finished I began to paint, and she resumed the pose, smiling and chattering like a sparrow.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
A man “in traditional Alpine costume” addresses a group of children while holding a sparrow.
I can hear her now warbling her own rendition of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
Historical Examples
Sparrow could have all the money he needed upon the following condition.
Ancient ManHendrik Willem van Loon
He was not quarrelsome, though, like the sparrow; but peaceful, like the dove.
Life And Adventures Of Martin ChuzzlewitCharles Dickens
Surely that sparrow fell not to the ground without the Father's knowledge.
Wilfrid CumbermedeGeorge MacDonald
It is exceedingly difficult to catch a sparrow in one's hand.
The Meaning of EvolutionSamuel Christian Schmucker
But the English sparrow is more adaptable than are the people.
The Meaning of EvolutionSamuel Christian Schmucker
sparrow
- any weaverbird of the genus Passer and related genera, esp the house sparrow, having a brown or grey plumage and feeding on seeds or insects
- US and Canadian any of various North American finches, such as the chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina), that have a dullish streaked plumage
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Word Origin
Old English spearwa; related to Old Norse spörr, Old High German sparo
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
Word Origin and History for sparrow
n.
small brownish-gray bird, Old English spearwa, from Proto-Germanic *sparwan (cf. Old Norse spörr, Old High German sparo, German Sperling, Gothic sparwa), from PIE *sper- (cf. Cornish frau "crow;" Old Prussian spurglis "sparrow;" Greek spergoulos "small field bird," psar "starling"). Sparrowhawk is attested from c.1400. Sparrowfarts (1886) was Cheshire slang for "very early morning."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper