toucan
Americannoun
-
any of several usually brightly colored, fruit-eating birds of the family Ramphastidae, of tropical America, having a very large bill.
-
Astronomy. Toucan, the constellation Tucana.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of toucan
First recorded in 1550–60; from French, from Portuguese tucano, from Tupi tucan (imitative of its cry)
Explanation
A toucan is a brilliantly colored bird with a comically large beak. Different species of toucans inhabit the canopies of rainforests in Central and South America. A toucan's bill is so big that it measures up to a third of the bird's total length! How does the toucan hold up that huge bill? Despite its size, the toucan's bill is surprisingly lightweight, made of a spongy material with many air pockets. Toucans use their bills to reach hanging fruit, snag insects or lizards, attract mates with their vibrant colors, and even to keep themselves cool.
Vocabulary lists containing toucan
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.
See Examples For:
In contrast, larger birds such as the Toco toucan or the Curl-crested jay disperse the seeds of trees with a higher carbon storage potential.
From Science Daily ● Apr. 15, 2024
But don’t overlook the toucan, or the hopping tiny frogs, as the Adventureland Treehouse is full of life.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2023
Without the promise of a toucan or a biblical torrent of shorebirds, what was the rush to go see some sparrows I’d seen a thousand times before?
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2021
Further along the route of Mexico City’s newest cableway, a toucan and a scarlet macaw stare up at passengers.
From New York Times ● Oct. 14, 2021
Maybe a stray dog should be wandering by, or a toucan.
From "Sparrow" by Sarah Moon
She is wearing gold drop earrings and a turquoise dress made from fabric featuring a rainforest of monkeys, toucans and lemurs.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2025
The town lies on a remote stretch of coast covered by dense rainforests that are home to monkeys, toucans and colorful poison dart frogs.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 11, 2023
From under the forest canopy came the guttural, trash-compactor roar of the loudest land animal in the world, one of many endangered species that live here, along with pumas, toucans, spider monkeys and coati-mundis.
From New York Times ● Nov. 8, 2022
As the researchers sequentially removed species from most to least threatened, toucans, hornbills, hummingbirds, and other distinctive species dropped out; similar birds—think finches and starlings—remained.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 21, 2022
The toucans and cockatoos circled in confusion before flying north.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
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.
