Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A European bird (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) having a short thick bill and in the male a red breast, blue-gray back, and black head, wings, and tail.
  • noun Any of several similar finches.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A very common oscine passerine bird of Europe, Pyrrhula vulgaris; a kind of finch of the family Fringillidæ, with a very short, stout, turgid bill, which, like the crown, is black, and a body bluish above, and, in the male, tile-red below: a favorite cage-bird, easily taught to sing a variety of notes.
  • noun In England, a strong fence, or a hedge allowed to grow high enough to impede hunters, and much used as a test of skill in steeplechasing.
  • noun This name is applied locally to many very different birds, as the pine-grosbeak, Pinicola enueleator; the house-finch, Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis; the black-breasted plover, Charadrius squatarola; the goldeneye Glaucionetta clangula americana; etc.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) A bird of the genus Pyrrhula and other related genera, especially the Pyrrhula vulgaris or Pyrrhula rubicilla, a bird of Europe allied to the grosbeak, having the breast, cheeks, and neck, red.
  • noun (Zoöl.) See Burion.
  • noun the pine finch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Any of various Old World finches in the genus Pyrrhula. They are Passerine birds with thick bills.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun common European finch mostly black and white with red throat and breast
  • noun United States architect who designed the Capitol Building in Washington which served as a model for state capitols throughout the United States (1763-1844)

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

bull +‎ finch

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word bullfinch.

Examples

  • The bullfinch is a native of the northern countries of Europe, occurring in Italy and other southern parts only as a winter visitor.

    Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 4 "Bulgaria" to "Calgary" Various

  • This is the universal "stake and bond" hedge of the shires, impenetrable to cattle, unbreakable, and imperishable, because the half-cut bonds, the stakes, and the small stuff all shoot again, and in a few years make the famous "bullfinch" with stake and bond below, and a tall mass of interlacing thorns and small stuff above.

    The Naturalist on the Thames 1882

  • The bullfinch is a homely little bird, almost as domestic as the robin; they just stay here, isn't that it? "

    Sister Teresa 1892

  • Three endemic birds are the Elfin-woods warbler (Dendroica angelae), Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata), and Puerto Rican bullfinch (Loxigilla portoricensis).

    Puerto Rico 2009

  • Three endemic birds are the Elfin-woods warbler (Dendroica angelae), Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata), and Puerto Rican bullfinch (Loxigilla portoricensis).

    Puerto Rico 2009

  • These ruminations were interrupted by a call down stairs to see a learned bullfinch.

    Camilla 2008

  • At night, when she returned to her own room from the play, she saw the little bullfinch, reposing in a superb cage, upon her table.

    Camilla 2008

  • The bullfinch had gone far, but the draft seemed to have riveted the persuasion.

    Camilla 2008

  • Cham of Tartary themselves, contended to load me with gifts — doth he think I am to abide in this old castle like a bullfinch in a cage, fain to sing as oft as he chooses to whistle, and all for seed and water?

    Quentin Durward 2008

  • The Eastern Himalaya EBA, which also overlaps with part of the Indo-Burma Hotspot, has nearly 20 endemic species, including four that are fully endemic to the Himalayas: the chestnut-breasted partridge (Arborophila mandellii, VU) and rusty-throated wren babbler (Spelaeornis badeigularis, VU), plus the white-throated tit (Aegithalos niveogularis) and orange bullfinch (Pyrrhula aurantiaca).

    Biological diversity in the Himalayas 2008

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.