Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various small, often olive-gray flycatchers of the genus Contopus of the Americas, especially a wood pewee.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small olivaceous flycatcher of the family Tyrannidæ and genus Contopus.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A common American tyrant flycatcher (
Sayornis phœbe , orSayornis fuscus ). Called alsopewit , andphœbe . - noun Local, U.S. The woodcock.
- noun (Zoöl.) a bird (
Contopus virens ) similar to the pewee (SeePewee , 1), but of smaller size.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Common American
tyrant flycatchers (of the genusContopus ).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun small olive-colored woodland flycatchers of eastern North America
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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The pewee is the first bird to pipe up in the morning; and, during the early summer he preludes his matutinal ejaculation of
Choice Specimens of American Literature, and Literary Reader Being Selections from the Chief American Writers Benj. N. Martin
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Since Sept. 5, the pewee, which is native to Cuba and the Bahamas, has been seen repeatedly for several days.
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Since Sept. 5, the pewee, which is native to Cuba and the Bahamas, has been seen repeatedly for several days.
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We had a pewee along the creek behind our house for most of this past summer, and its entertaining song is highly recognizable to me now.
Archive 2007-11-01 James F. McGrath 2007
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I have a feeling the pewee annoyed the film crew, who tried to get as much footage without its distracting call as they could.
Archive 2007-11-01 James F. McGrath 2007
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On the third or fourth of May I saw a loon in the pond, and during the first week of the month I heard the whip-poor-will, the brown thrasher, the veery, the wood pewee, the chewink, and other birds.
Walden 2004
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There were some slight flurries of snow during the days that I worked there; but for the most part when I came out on to the railroad, on my way home, its yellow sand heap stretched away gleaming in the hazy atmosphere, and the rails shone in the spring sun, and I heard the lark and pewee and other birds already come to commence another year with us.
Walden 2004
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Thought I heard a western wood pewee last week, but it was just a starling imitating the pewee song.
grouse Diary Entry grouse 2002
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Have no idea why a starling would imitate a pewee.
grouse Diary Entry grouse 2002
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The wood pewee, like its relative, the phoebe, feeds largely on the family of flies to which the house fly belongs.
Bird Day; How to prepare for it Charles Almanzo Babcock
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