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stonechat

American

[stohn-chat] / ˈstoʊnˌtʃæt /

noun

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

stonechat British

/ ˈstəʊnˌtʃæt /

noun

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

"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

Etymology

Origin of stonechat

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

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.

Alberto Román Gómez captured a playful stonechat perched beside a heavy chain, resembling a tiny warrior.

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2024

He really wants to find the stonechat which he knows frequent the valley, but they prove elusive - for now.

From BBC • Aug. 4, 2024

But then suddenly, Graeme's efforts pay off as we sight a stonechat, the feathered fiend who had evaded us earlier, sitting happily atop a fence post.

From BBC • Aug. 4, 2024

The stonechat is “the very acme of alertness.”

From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2016

Miriam broke off some lotus-buds and threw them at the stonechat, which flew away, but kept its beak still pointing towards the rushes.

From Historical Miniatures by Strindberg, August

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023