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BLACKBIRD

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Blackbird
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black⋅bird

  [blak-burd]
Use BLACKBIRD in a Sentence
–noun
1. a common European thrush, Turdus merula, the male of which is black with a yellow bill.
2. any of several American birds of the family Icteridae, having black plumage. Compare crow blackbird, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird.
3. any of several other unrelated birds having black plumage in either or both sexes.
4. (formerly) a person, esp. a Kanaka, who was kidnapped and sold abroad, usually in Australia, as a slave.
–verb (used with object)
5. to kidnap (a person), as in blackbirding.
–verb (used without object)
6. to engage in blackbirding.
Origin:
1480–90; earlier blacke bride. See black, bird
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Blackbird
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black·bird   (blāk'bûrd')   
n.  

  1. Any of various New World birds of the family Icteridae, such as the grackle or red-winged blackbird, the male of which has black or predominantly black plumage.

  2. An Old World songbird (Turdus merula), the male of which is black with a yellow bill. Also called merle1.

  3. Australian A South Sea Islander kidnapped and sold into slavery in Australia; a Kanaka.

tr.v.   black·bird·ed, black·bird·ing, black·birds Australian
To kidnap (a South Sea Islander) and sell into slavery.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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