grosbeak

[ grohs-beek ]

noun
  1. any of various finches having a thick, conical bill.

Origin of grosbeak

1
First recorded in 1670–80; partial translation of French grosbec “large bill”; see origin at gross, beak

Words Nearby grosbeak

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

How to use grosbeak in a sentence

  • Finally, Mr. Pine grosbeak plucked up courage to approach nearer.

    Bumper, The White Rabbit | George Ethelbert Walsh
  • The “social grosbeak” fabricates a republic of nests in one clump, and all under one roof.

  • Then a catbird and a brown thrush sang against a grosbeak and a hermit thrush.

    A Girl Of The Limberlost | Gene Stratton Porter
  • The grosbeak sang on, a big Turnus butterfly sailed through the arbour and poised over the table.

    A Girl Of The Limberlost | Gene Stratton Porter
  • She talked to the grosbeak in exactly the same manner, as she laid strawberries and potato bugs on the fence for his family.

    A Girl Of The Limberlost | Gene Stratton Porter

British Dictionary definitions for grosbeak

grosbeak

/ (ˈɡrəʊsˌbiːk, ˈɡrɒs-) /


noun
  1. any of various finches, such as Pinicola enucleator (pine grosbeak), that have a massive powerful bill

  2. cardinal grosbeak any of various mostly tropical American buntings, such as the cardinal and pyrrhuloxia, the males of which have brightly coloured plumage

Origin of grosbeak

1
C17: from French grosbec, from Old French gros large, thick + bec beak 1

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