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bittern
1[ bit-ern ]
noun
- any of several tawny brown herons that inhabit reedy marshes, as Botaurus lentiginosus American bittern, of North America, and B. stellaris, of Europe.
- any of several small herons of the genus Ixobrychus, as I. exilis least bittern, of temperate and tropical North and South America.
bittern
2[ bit-ern ]
noun
- a bitter solution remaining in salt making after the salt has crystallized out of seawater or brine, used as a source of bromides, iodides, and certain other salts.
bittern
1/ ˈbɪtən /
noun
- the bitter liquid remaining after common salt has been crystallized out of sea water: a source of magnesium, bromine, and iodine compounds
bittern
2/ ˈbɪtən /
noun
- any wading bird of the genera Ixobrychus and Botaurus , related and similar to the herons but with shorter legs and neck, a stouter body, and a booming call: family Ardeidae , order Ciconiiformes
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Word History and Origins
Origin of bittern1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of bittern1
Origin of bittern2
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Example Sentences
Later in the spring, she and Elisabeth saw another kind of heron, an American bittern, skulking in some grass by a swamp.
The great auk is but a memory; the bittern booms more rarely in our eastern marshes; and now they tell me Brigadiers are extinct.
It may, therefore, be as well to point out the principal distinctions between this bird and the Common Bittern last mentioned.
He bolted half a mile with the first boom of the bittern, and his hat lifted with every yelp of the sheitpoke.
Along the creeks and river sides, and in the wet savannas, six species of the bittern will engage your attention.
Within three paddle-lengths of my boat, in a patch of dark that must be a nest, stood my least bittern.
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