Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small finch (Carduelis cannabina) of Eurasia and Africa with brownish plumage, the male of which has red on the head and breast.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small songbird, Linaria or Linota cannabina, of the family Fringillidæ, inhabiting parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa.
- noun An ore which contains phosphate intermixed with carbonate of lead in variable proportions: so called on account of the linnet-like color due to the presence of the phosphate.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of fringilline birds of the genera Linota, Acanthis, and allied genera, esp. the common European species (
Linota cannabina ), which, in full summer plumage, is chestnut brown above, with the breast more or less crimson. The feathers of its head are grayish brown, tipped with crimson. Called alsogray linnet ,red linnet ,rose linnet ,brown linnet ,lintie ,lintwhite ,gorse thatcher ,linnet finch , andgreater redpoll . The American redpoll linnet (Acanthis linaria ) often has the crown and throat rosy. Seeredpoll , andtwite . - noun (Zoöl.) the European green finch.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A small
passerine bird, Carduelis cannabina in thefinch familyFringillidae that derives its scientific name from its fondness for hemp, and its English name from its liking for seeds of flax, from which linen is made.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small Old World finch whose male has a red breast and forehead
- noun small finch originally of the western United States and Mexico
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The linnet is here, and the lark, and the yellowhammer,
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For the voice that he swore 'ud out-call the linnet's
Green Bays. Verses and Parodies Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch 1903
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The English word linnet does not, to my mind, convey so much of simple beauty and of pastoral ideas as belong to our Scottish word LINTIE.
Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character Ramsay, Edward B 1874
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There is something very Arcadian and un-Cockney-like in the idea of linnet-singing in Lock's Fields.
Mystic London: or, Phases of occult life in the metropolis Charles Maurice Davies 1869
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Our linnet is a little larger than the English, with a clear, bell-like voice, as of a blacksmith’s hammer on an anvil.
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And I am sure you’ll not believe this, but a linnet is an English finch.
Sweetbriar Jude Deveraux 1983
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And I am sure you’ll not believe this, but a linnet is an English finch.
Sweetbriar Jude Deveraux 1983
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'linnet'! oh, my poor Merle, you have taken wings indeed!
The Chouans Honor�� de Balzac 1824
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The latter, whose anger was unbounded, had seized a poignard at his girdle, and was about to have rushed on the impassable aggressor, when a guttural cry, like that of the _cilguero_, (a kind of linnet of
The Pearl of Lima A Story of True Love Jules Verne 1866
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If you have never heard the lilting song of the linnet, spotted the distinctive plumage of a goldcrest, or waited for the whirring wings of a grey partridge, it is increasingly unlikely that you ever will.
yarb commented on the word linnet
Dryden's "Ode on the Death of Purcell":
Mark how the lark and linnet sing:
With rival notes
They strain their warbling throats
To welcome in the spring.
September 25, 2007
jaime_d commented on the word linnet
From "A Field of Snow on a Slope of the Rosenberg" by Guy Davenport.
January 19, 2010