throstle
Americannoun
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British (chiefly Literary). the song thrush.
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Obsolete. a machine for spinning wool, cotton, etc., in which the twisting and winding are simultaneous and continuous.
noun
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a poetic name for the thrush, esp the song thrush
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a spinning machine for wool or cotton in which the fibres are twisted and wound continuously
Etymology
Origin of throstle
before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch drossel, German Drossel; akin to Old Norse thrǫstr, Latin turdus thrush
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.
"What do you think of this passage?" he scornfully asked a Shakespearean enthusiast: " 'I would as lief be thrust through a quicket hedge as cry Pooh to a callow throstle.'"
From Time Magazine Archive
There also are many birds, throstle, thrush and nightingale, goldfinch and woodlark, which sing merrily day and night.
From Medieval English Nunneries c. 1275 to 1535 by Power, Eileen
"She heard a throstle singing by the brook," whispered the châtelaine of Aulnes.
From Barbarians by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)
What though the throstle pour his heart away, A happy spendthrift of uncounted gold, Swinging upon a blossomed briar With soft throat lifted in a wild desire To make the world his may.
From Collected Poems Volume One by Noyes, Alfred
The rabbits wandered away from their burrows, and made desultory scrapings by the pathsides, and the birds, the throstle and pigeon, sang again half heartedly.
From Lives of the Fur Folk by Haviland, M. D.
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.
