warbler
[wawr-bler]
- any of several small, chiefly Old World songbirds of the subfamily Sylviidae.Compare blackcap(def 1), reed warbler.
- Also called wood warbler. any of numerous small New World songbirds of the family Parulidae, many species of which are brightly colored.Compare yellow warbler.
- a person or thing that warbles.
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Origin of warbler
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for warbler
Contemporary Examples
She must have told her that dozens of species of warbler—all little and bright, with voices like flutes—came north every spring.
Historical Examples
"Perhaps it was a warbler or a thrush," I thought, and walked on.
From Pole to PoleSven Anders Hedin
Wilson's Warbler is a common spring and probably fall migrant in Coahuila.
Birds from Coahuila, MexicoEmil K. Urban
Audubon's Warbler is a common winter visitant and migrant in Coahuila.
Birds from Coahuila, MexicoEmil K. Urban
One of the most delightful of these hermits is the Kentucky warbler.
Our Bird ComradesLeander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser
What an enigma the Tennessee warbler for a long time remained to me!
Our Bird ComradesLeander S. (Leander Sylvester) Keyser
warbler
- a person or thing that warbles
- any small active passerine songbird of the Old World subfamily Sylviinae: family Muscicapidae. They have a cryptic plumage and slender bill and are arboreal insectivores
- Also called: wood warbler any small bird of the American family Parulidae, similar to the Old World forms but often brightly coloured
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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
Word Origin and History for warbler
n.
agent noun from warble (v.). Applied to Old World songbirds by 1773 and to North American birds that look like them but sing little by 1783.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper