sparrow
Americannoun
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any of numerous American finches of the family Emberizinae.
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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.
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British. the house sparrow.
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any of several other unrelated small birds.
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Military. Sparrow, a 12-foot (4-meter), all-weather, radar-guided U.S. air-to-air missile with an 88-pound (40-kilogram) high-explosive warhead.
noun
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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
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any of various North American finches, such as the chipping sparrow ( Spizella passerina ), that have a dullish streaked plumage
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of sparrow
First recorded before 900; Middle English sparowe, Old English spearwa; cognate with Gothic sparwa, Old Norse spǫrr
Explanation
A sparrow is a small brown bird. Sparrows live near humans and have a pretty, musical song. A sparrow is a different bird in the US than it is in other parts of the world. A "true sparrow" is found mainly in Europe, where it commonly nests in the eaves of buildings and in trees in cities. American sparrows got their name because they resemble true sparrows at first glance — they're both small, round, brownish birds — but they're from completely different families.
Vocabulary lists containing sparrow
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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.
The blue tit was the most common bird spotted in Surrey - bucking a national trend in a new survey which saw the house sparrow as the most frequently recorded bird across the country.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
The crumbs of comfort wouldn't feed a sparrow right now.
From BBC • Dec. 12, 2025
So I’m curious, do you still have sparrow beef?
From Salon • Apr. 29, 2025
For her, it was the common house sparrow, which she would observe before heading to her job teaching journalism at Loyola University New Orleans when it reopened in January 2006, five months after Katrina.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 2024
Matthias found himself staring straight into the bold aggressive face of a big strong-looking male sparrow.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
