sparrow hawk
Americannoun
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a small, short-winged European hawk, Accipiter nisus, that preys on smaller birds.
noun
Etymology
Origin of sparrow hawk
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
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.
Upon searching for the cause of a dull thump against one of our windows we discovered this sparrow hawk, just three yards from our window on our terrace.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 30, 2020
In the sky above, London’s top predators – the peregrine falcon, kestrel and sparrow hawk – keep an eye out for pigeons and songbirds flirting in the garden.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 28, 2020
The song of the sparrow hawk, for example, is like “a speeded-up recording of the sound of the night-jar.”
From The New Yorker ● Apr. 17, 2017
The university’s own website, however, insists the team’s name now refers to an imaginary hybrid of a blue jay and a sparrow hawk, so we’ll have to go with that.
From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2012
A sparrow hawk swooped down quite close to Jean and then shot upward with a little brown bird in its claws, and startled her out of her castle building.
From Jean of the Lazy A by B. M. Bower
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.
