sparrow hawk

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noun

a small, short-winged European hawk, Accipiter nisus, that preys on smaller birds.

American kestrel.

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Origin of sparrow hawk

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50

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

How to use sparrow hawk in a sentence

About three years since a young sparrowhawk was purchased and brought up by my brother.
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction|Various
His efforts in the direction of advantageous matrimony had earned for him at Court the nickname of "The Sparrowhawk."
The Nest of the Sparrowhawk|Baroness Orczy
The foreman was a brownskinned, sparrowhawk-looking old man, with a smoldering brown eye.
Back Home|Irvin S. Cobb
The term Spireog is still used in the locality referred to, and signifies the Sparrowhawk.
The Romance of Natural History, Second Series|Philip Henry Gosse

But the other was indeed a sparrowhawk to claw him well; and both dropt down into the middle of the boiling pond.
Dante: "The Central Man of All the World"|John T. Slattery

British Dictionary definitions for sparrow hawk (1 of 2)

sparrowhawk

/ (ˈspærəʊˌhɔːk) /

noun

any of several small hawks, esp Accipiter nisus, of Eurasia and N Africa that prey on smaller birds

British Dictionary definitions for sparrow hawk (2 of 2)

sparrow hawk

noun

a very small North American falcon, Falco sparverius, that is closely related to the kestrels

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