white-eye
Americannoun
noun
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Also called (NZ): blighty. silvereye. tauhou. waxeye. any songbird of the family Zosteropidae of Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and Asia, having a greenish plumage with a white ring around each eye
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any of certain other birds having a white ring or patch around the eye
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of white-eye
First recorded in 1840–50
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:
The white-eye family includes about 100 species, but they’re mostly tropical, and none live anywhere near here.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023
Nonetheless, during this short time we also documented the Louisiade white-eye and the large-billed gerygone, neither of which were expected in the Amphlet Group.
From New York Times ● Sep. 28, 2011
Posts From Papua New Guinea The rufous fantail was common on Duchess Island, along with the mangrove golden whistler and Louisiade white-eye.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2011
Kiko, a guide, with the team’s first Kolombangara white-eye.
From New York Times ● Oct. 15, 2010
After 10 seconds, the white-eye lunged at the intruder, striking it in mid-air.
From Natural History of the Bell Vireo, Vireo bellii Audubon by Barlow, Jon C.
An internet search identified them as Japanese white-eyes.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2023
Local folks tell us that the smaller islands have Nicobar pigeons, Louisiade white-eyes and other species that are not present in human-populated islands.
From New York Times ● Oct. 25, 2011
Another equally intriguing possibility, particularly for the white-eyes, is that eye rings may be signaling membership in a particular group or population.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2011
Thus eye ring differences among white-eyes may drive reproductive isolation, and ultimately speciation, among island bird populations.
From New York Times ● Feb. 25, 2011
The unique migration on the part of the white-eyes has not been satisfactorily accounted for.
From Austral English A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia by Morris, Edward Ellis
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.
