Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various wading birds of the family Ardeidae, having a long neck, long legs, a long pointed bill, and usually white, gray, or bluish-gray plumage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A long-legged, long-necked, long-billed, slender-bodied wading bird; any bird of the family Ardeidœ, but especially of the subfamily Ardeinœ.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any wading bird of the genus Ardea and allied genera, of the family
Ardeidæ . The herons have a long, sharp bill, and long legs and toes, with the claw of the middle toe toothed. The common European heron (Ardea cinerea ) is remarkable for its directly ascending flight, and was formerly hunted with the larger falcons. - noun (Bot.) a plant of the genus Erodium; -- so called from the fancied resemblance of the fruit to the head and beak of the heron.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A
long-legged , long-neckedwading bird of the familyArdeidae .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to determine the area of a triangle and who described various mechanical devices (first century)
- noun grey or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and (usually) long bill
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word heron.
Examples
-
To McEneaney, the heron was a sign — a communication from Eamon — like those dozens of relatives of Trade Center victims say they've received from loved ones.
For those touched most by 9/11, a turning point in faith 2008
-
If you are interested to hear PM Shaikh Hasina's meeting with the army officers ... here are the 3 links ... which is now blocked againby shameless Prime Minister, saying "contents subversive to the state." what a "chagol" as the Army officers called heron thisrecorded conversation between prime minister and army officers.
Bangladesh Blocks YouTube After Leak of PM Conversations 2009
-
The speckled heron, which is nicknamed ‘the skulker’, is said in folklore stories to be of servile origin, and, as its nickname implies, it is the laziest bird of the three species.
-
The heron was a very special creature inasmuch as it was a solitary bird, quietly stalking its prey, which it speared with its long, curved serrated beak.
Black Blade Lustbader, Eric Van 1992
-
The heron is the best example of the rational use of a horn.
-
“A heron is a lovely bird,” Grijpstra said, “and that heron was a beauty.”
Death of a Hawker Van de Wetering, Janwillem, 1931- 1977
-
The heron is a frog-catcher, and he will stand very still on his long legs and patiently wait till the frog, thinking him gone, swims near.
Stories of California Ella M. Sexton
-
The heron was the incarnation of a war god on the island of Manono.
Samoa, A Hundred Years Ago And Long Before George Turner
-
For the bird was a heron, which is something like a stork that lives on chimneys in a country called Holland.
Bully and Bawly No-Tail Howard Roger Garis 1917
-
In England, although the heron is a native, we rarely seem to see him; while to study him is extremely difficult.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.