stonechat

[ stohn-chat ]

/ ˈstoʊnˌtʃæt /

noun

any of several small Old World birds, especially of the genus Saxicola, as S. torquata.

Nearby words

stone-lily, stone-washed, stoneboat, stonecast, stonecat, stonechat, stonecrop, stonecrop family, stonecutter, stoned, stoneface

Origin of stonechat

1775–85; stone + chat, so called from its warning cry which sounds like a clash of stones

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for stonechat

Only once have I seen a stonechat in the neighbourhood of this garden.
In a Cheshire Garden|Geoffrey Egerton-Warburton
But the rock stood still, and a stonechat went and perched on it.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol VI.|Various
That delightful, restless little bird, the stonechat, is a near relation of the wheatear.
Birds in Flight|W. P. Pycraft
It is difficult to put oneself in the place of the Stonechat or of the Whinchat.
Territory in Bird Life|H. Eliot Howard

This was on April 23rd, and there were four eggs of the Stonechat.
Wild Spain (Espaa agreste)|Abel Chapman

British Dictionary definitions for stonechat

stonechat

/ (ˈstəʊnˌtʃæt) /

noun

an Old World songbird, Saxicola torquata, having a black plumage with a reddish-brown breast: subfamily Turdinae (thrushes)

Word Origin for stonechat

C18: so called from its cry, which sounds like clattering pebbles

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