chickadee

[ chik-uh-dee ]

noun

any of several North American birds of the genus Parus, of the titmouse family, especially P. atricapillus(black-capped chickadee ), having the throat and top of the head black.

Origin of chickadee

First recorded in 1820–30; imitative

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

How to use chickadee in a sentence

Yes, my little chickadees, it's true: toast was invented before toasters.
What's the Most Indispensable Kitchen Machine? | Megan McArdle | October 26, 2012 | THE DAILY BEAST
They saw the tracks of deer and wolves and partridge, and encountered a few jays, chickadees, and woodpeckers.
Blazed Trail Stories | Stewart Edward White
With placid interest he watched a robin on the lawn, and listened to the chickadees piping monotone in the huge maple by the gate.
Cursed | George Allan England
The wrens and the nuthatches and chickadees succeed to these abandoned cavities, and often have amusing disputes over them.
A Year in the Fields | John Burroughs
The nuthatches frequently pass the night in them, and the wrens and chickadees nest in them.
A Year in the Fields | John Burroughs

The habits of this large Titmouse are almost identical with those of Chickadees.
Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies | Chester A. (Chester Albert) Reed

British Dictionary definitions for chickadee

chickadee

/ (ˈtʃɪkəˌdiː) /

noun

any of various small North American songbirds of the genus Parus, such as P. atricapillus (black-capped chickadee), typically having grey-and-black plumage: family Paridae (titmice)

Origin of chickadee

C19: imitative of its note

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

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