towhee

[ tou-hee, toh-hee, toh-ee ]

/ ˈtaʊ hi, ˈtoʊ hi, ˈtoʊ i /

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noun

any of several long-tailed North American finches of the genera Pipilo and Chlorura.

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Origin of towhee

An Americanism dating back to 1720–30; imitative

Words nearby towhee

towery, tow-haired, to what extent, towhead, towheaded, towhee, to whom it may concern, towie, to windward, towing path, to wit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use towhee in a sentence

He is known by an offensive and inapt title—the green-tailed towhee.
Birds of the Rockies|Leander Sylvester Keyser
White-eyed Towhee (alleni) has white eyes instead of red and less white on the tail; found on the South Atlantic coast.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies|Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed
His mystery of the black ground-bird with a brown mate was resolved into the Common Towhee.
Two Little Savages|Ernest Thompson Seton
Two eggs of the cowbird and two or three of the towhee in a nest are common.
Birds and all Nature, Vol. VI, No. 4, November 1899|Various

The green-tailed towhee he is called in the books, though the red of his head is much more conspicuous than the green of his tail.
A Bird-Lover in the West|Olive Thorne Miller

British Dictionary definitions for towhee

towhee

/ (ˈtaʊhɪ, ˈtəʊ-) /

noun

any of various North American brownish-coloured sparrows of the genera Pipilo and Chlorura

Word Origin for towhee

C18: imitative of its note

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