Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various Eurasian, African, or Australian birds of the family Oriolidae, the males of which often have black and bright yellow or green plumage.
- noun Any of various similar birds of the family Icteridae found throughout the Americas, the males of which have primarily black and yellow or orange plumage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A bird of Europe, Oriolus galbula, so called from its rich yellow color massed with black; also, any bird of the family Oriolidœ.
- noun Any American hangnest of the family Icteridœ and subfamily lcterinœ, as the Baltimore oriole and orchard-oriole.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Any one of various species of Old World singing birds of the family
Oriolidæ . They are usually conspicuously colored with yellow and black. The European or golden oriole (Oriolus galbula , orOriolus oriolus ) has a very musical flutelike note. - noun In America, any one of several species of the genus Icterus, belonging to the family
Icteridæ . SeeBaltimore oriole , and Orchard oriole, underorchard . - noun (Zoöl.) See
Cassican .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of various colourful
passerine birds , theNew World orioles from the familyIcteridae and theOld World orioles from the familyOriolidae .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun mostly tropical songbird; the male is usually bright orange and black
- noun American songbird; male is black and orange or yellow
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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Hang pieces of colored yarn near the place where the oriole is building its nest, and the bird seizes upon them eagerly and weaves them into the structure, not mindful at all of the obvious incongruity.
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Hang pieces of colored yarn near the place where the oriole is building its nest, and the bird seizes upon them eagerly and weaves them into the structure, not mindful at all of the obvious incongruity.
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The pensile nest of the oriole is more striking and peculiar, as well as much more neat than any other.
Rural Hours 1887
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Mr. Wilson says the Baltimore oriole is not found in the pine countries, and yet they are common birds here – regular members of our summer flock; and we have remarked they are very often seen and heard among the pines of the churchyard; it is quite a favorite haunt of theirs.
Rural Hours 1887
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These are sometimes very troublesome at the time of ripening, and especially the oriole is a "hard customer," as he will generally dip his bill into every berry; often ruining a fine bunch, or a number of them, in a short time.
The Cultivation of The Native Grape, and Manufacture of American Wines George Husmann
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The oriole is a timid bird and is glad to rear up its family under the aegis of so doughty a warrior as the Black Prince of the Birds.
A Bird Calendar for Northern India Douglas Dewar 1916
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"Somebody in a book called the oriole Orestes, because that means dweller in the woods," Tom ventured.
Tom Slade on Mystery Trail Percy Keese Fitzhugh 1913
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That was a happy thought of Tom's to call the oriole Orestes, which means dweller in the woods, but thanks to Hervey the name became corrupted in camp talk, and the nickname of Asbestos caught the community and became instantly popular.
Tom Slade on Mystery Trail Percy Keese Fitzhugh 1913
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Besides all this, the oriole is a neighborly little body; and that helps her.
Ways of Wood Folk William Joseph Long 1909
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Baltimore won for the first The oriole is the easiest to hear, but in the background is the wood thrush.
WN.com - Articles related to Tampa Bay Rays (8-3) at Boston Red Sox (4-7), 1:35 p.m. 2010
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