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
Agrippina the Empress, wife to Claudius Cæsar, had a black-bird or a throstle at what time I compiled this book, which could counterfeit man’s speech; a thing never seen or known before.
From The Animal Story Book by Various
I proclaim the lovelier throstle, Lord, The only one my simples recognise.
From The Dales of Arcady by Ratcliffe, Dorothy Una
From the fact that the spinning-frame was driven by water, it came to be known as the water-frame; since the application of steam it has been known as the throstle.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 13 by Rudd, John
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.
