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
A jolly old throstle is singing away in the elm which overhangs the parson's gate.
From Despair's Last Journey by Murray, David Christie
"If the throstle hen kens nae the mottled lover that sings to her, what other bird o' the wood can come to the knowledge?" answered Bertha.
From Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland Volume 13 by Various
I want to take my heart away, Break it away from the branch where it clings; I want to quit the barren spray Where now no throstle sings.
From Songs of Womanhood by Alma-Tadema, Laurence
Yellow hair at her, and eyes like the sea, and a voice same as the throstle!
From Capt'n Davy's Honeymoon by Caine, Hall, Sir
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.
