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definitions

water bird

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noun

an aquatic bird; a swimming or wading bird.

Origin of water bird

late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for water bird

Historical Examples of water bird

  • A name of the water-bird also called sand-lark or sand-piper.

    The Sailor's Word-Book

    William Henry Smyth

  • From a lake, curled in a hollow like a patch of smoke, came the cry of a water-bird.

  • It is essentially a water-bird, and on shore is both slow and awkward.

    On the Trail

    Lina Beard and Adelia Belle Beard

  • It is not a water-bird in structure, though it gets its living in the water, and never leaves the streams.

  • He was still talking to Whitewing about her when a peculiar whistle was heard outside, as of some water-bird.

    The Prairie Chief

    R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for water bird

water bird

noun

any aquatic bird, including the wading and swimming birds
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