Definitions

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

  • noun A small Eurasian finch (Carduelis flavirostris) having streaked brown plumage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A kind of linnet, the mountain-linnet, Linaria montium or L. flavirostris, a European bird of the family Fringillidæ, nearly related to the redpoll, siskin, and goldfinch.
  • An obsolete form of twit.
  • A variant of thwite.

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

  • noun Prov. Eng., Prov. Eng. The European tree sparrow.
  • noun Prov. Eng. The mountain linnet (Linota flavirostris).

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

  • noun A small passerine bird, Carduelis flavirostris, that breeds in northern Europe and across central Asia.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Imitative of its call.]

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Examples

  • (_Ruticilla titys_), Dartford warbler (_Silvia undata_), grasshopper warbler (_Locustella nævia_) [d], waxwing (_Ampelis garrulus_), twite

    Hertfordshire Herbert Winckworth Tompkins 1901

  • You be twite dead, Dimmy, and I'll peep in and see

    Eight Cousins Louisa May Alcott 1860

  • And the report also claims that there species classified as "critically endangered" in Wales, including the golden plover, twite and yellow wagtail, face extinction in Wales by 2015 unless urgent conservation action is carried out.

    WalesOnline - Home WalesOnline 2011

  • Dr Siân Whitehead, terrestrial and freshwater ornithologist for the CCW said: From this report, the urgency of conservation action for some breeding species such as golden plover and twite is clear.

    WalesOnline - Home WalesOnline 2011

  • England Twite Recovery Project, said: Even before these fires, the twite was one of England's most threatened birds.

    The Guardian World News James Meikle 2011

  • Fires have struck both the nesting and feeding sites of the the twite It said many of the 100 pairs that nest in small colonies in the southern Pennines might be affected.

    The Guardian World News James Meikle 2011

  • I am not talking about being a birder, of owning binoculars or of knowing that the bunch of small brown birds I saw happened to be a flock of twite.

    Top stories from Times Online 2010

  • “Munny, my iron’s twite told; pease put it down to warm.”

    Adam Bede 2004

Comments

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  • A small passerine in the finch family Fringillidae. A breeder in northern Europe and across central Asia, it is partially resident, but many birds migrate farther south, or move to the coasts.

    June 25, 2008

  • Is not patterned after shite

    November 13, 2008

  • But you have to admit that it makes a neat exclamation.

    'I forgot to check the mail again. Oh, twiteshite!

    November 29, 2008

  • Not quite twit, not trite, not tweet, not thwite. #RandomWord

    August 26, 2022