Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various small insectivorous songbirds of several genera, especially of the genus Vireo, found throughout the Americas and having grayish or greenish plumage.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of small greenish oscine or singing passerine birds of America, the type of the family Vireonidæ, and including most of the species of that family; the greenlets. See Vireonidæ, and cuts under greenlet and solitary.
  • noun [lowercase] A greenlet; any bird of the family Vireonidæ, especially of the genus Vireo.

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

  • noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of American singing birds belonging to Vireo and allied genera of the family Vireonidæ. In many of the species the back is greenish, or olive-colored. Called also greenlet.

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

  • noun Any of several small insectivorous passerine birds, of the genus Vireo, that have grey-green plumage

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun any of various small insectivorous American birds chiefly olive-grey in color

Etymologies

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

[Latin vireō, a kind of bird, from virēre, to be green.]

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Examples

  • The first bird noted was a familiar one -- the warbling vireo, which is very abundant in Colorado in its favorite localities, where all day you may be lulled by its "silvery converse, just begun and never ended."

    Birds of the Rockies 1896

  • _ His indolence struck me as very surprising for a vireo; still I had no question about his identity (he sat between me and the sun) till I changed my position, when behold! the vireo was a linnet.

    Birds in the Bush Bradford Torrey 1877

  • (Soundbite of bird chirping) MANN: As I sit, a blue-headed vireo begins to sing.

    A Leaf Falls In The Forest. Here's What It Sounds Like 2010

  • Somewhere along the way, the people who came up with the names of birds decided that they should be really cool words, like grackle and vireo.

    Birding season: No grousing or sniping 2010

  • In 1991, a new bird species was discovered in the Colombian Chocó: described in 1996, this was the Chocó vireo (Vireo masteri, EN), the scientific name being given through auction to Dr Bernard Master, raising $70,000 for the conservation of its threatened rainforest habitat.

    Biological diversity in Tumbes-Chocó-Magdalena 2008

  • The most abundant breeding birds include the cardinal, tufted titmouse, wood thrush, summer tanager, red-eyed vireo, blue-gray gnatcatcher, and Carolina wren.

    Eastern Broadleaf Forest (Oceanic) Province (Bailey) 2009

  • Usually the tanagers stay down in the creek woods--but I've seen several bird species in the yard that I've seen before only down in the woods: white-eyed vireo, yellow warbler, painted bunting, and now, the tanager.

    80Acres: new yard bird e_moon60 2009

  • Some of these species are found on San Andrés Island including two land birds the San Andrés mockingbird (Mimus magnirostris) and Sam Andrés vireo (Vireo caribaeus) and two reptiles — a lizard (Anolis concolor) and a snake (Coniophanes andresensis).

    Cayos Miskitos-San Andrés and Providencia moist forests 2007

  • Among the numerous bird species found here are the prothonotary warbler, white-eyed vireo, wood duck, yellow-billed cuckoo, Louisiana waterthrush, and all the species found in the Southeastern Mixed Forest.

    Lower Mississippi Riverine Forest Province (Bailey) 2009

  • The threatened golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo inhabit northwestern areas where the Ashe juniper is present.

    Southwest Plateau and Plains Dry Steppe and Shrub Province (Bailey) 2009

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