spoonbill

[ spoon-bil ]

noun

any of several wading birds of the family Plataleidae, related to the ibises, having a long, flat bill with a spoonlike tip.
any of various birds having a similar bill, as the shoveler duck.

the paddlefish.

Origin of spoonbill

First recorded in 1670–80; spoon + bill²

Words Nearby spoonbill

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

How to use spoonbill in a sentence

So the Prince gave her back her shift, and she immediately turned into a spoonbill and flew away after her companions.
Russian Fairy Tales | W. R. S. Ralston
Among them, the scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbill excelled all others in gorgeousness of colouring.
The Wanderers | W.H.G. Kingston
The white ibis (Ibis melanocephala) is another wading bird, rather smaller than the spoonbill and with considerably shorter legs.
Glimpses of Indian Birds | Douglas Dewar
The beak is flattened laterally, that is in a plane at right angles to that of a spoonbill or Duck.
Argentine Ornithology, Volume II (of 2) | P. L. Sclater
Joseph Dixon implies that the eggs resemble those of the spoonbill sandpiper.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2) | Arthur Cleveland Bent

British Dictionary definitions for spoonbill

spoonbill

/ (ˈspuːnˌbɪl) /

noun

any of several wading birds of warm regions, such as Platalea leucorodia (common spoonbill) and Ajaia ajaja (roseate spoonbill), having a long horizontally flattened bill: family Threskiornithidae, order Ciconiiformes

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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