wheatear

[ hweet-eer, weet- ]

noun
  1. any of several small, chiefly Old World thrushes of the genus Oenanthe, having a distinctive white rump, especially O. oenanthe, of Eurasia and North America.

Origin of wheatear

1
1585–95; probably back formation from wheatears, for *whiteers white rump. See white, arse

Words Nearby wheatear

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use wheatear in a sentence

  • One would not expect to find a wheatear in a wood, or a wren in a reed-bed.

    Birds in Flight | W. P. Pycraft
  • While talking, a wheatear flew past, and alighted near the path—a place they frequent.

    Nature Near London | Richard Jefferies
  • They lie crushed together at the base, and on the point of this jagged ridge a wheatear perches.

    Nature Near London | Richard Jefferies
  • There is not a quail, not a blackbird, not the smallest rabbit nor even the tiniest wheatear.

    Tartarin de Tarascon | Alphonse Daudet
  • The sycamore by the ruined chancel pattered in the breeze, and the wheatear's last notes came from its top-most bough.

    A Son of Hagar | Sir Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for wheatear

wheatear

/ (ˈwiːtˌɪə) /


noun
  1. any small northern songbird of the genus Oenanthe, esp O. oenanthe, a species having a pale grey back, black wings and tail, white rump, and pale brown underparts: subfamily Turdinae (thrushes)

Origin of wheatear

1
C16: back formation from wheatears (wrongly taken as plural), probably from white + arse; compare Dutch witstaart, French culblanc white tail

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