oscine
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Related to oscine: oscine bird
os·cine
(ŏs′īn′)n.
Any of various passerine birds of the suborder Passeri (formerly Oscines); a songbird.
[From New Latin Oscinēs, former suborder name, from Latin oscinēs, pl. of oscen, bird used in augury; see kan- in Indo-European roots.]
os·cine adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
oscine
(ˈɒsaɪn; ˈɒsɪn) oroscinine
adj
(Zoology) of, relating to, or belonging to the Oscines, a suborder of passerine birds that includes most of the songbirds
[C17: via New Latin from Latin oscen singing bird]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
os•cine
(ˈɒs ɪn, -aɪn)adj.
1. of or pertaining to birds of the suborder Oscines, of the order Passeriformes, comprising members of the order that have highly developed vocal organs.
n. 2. an oscine bird; songbird.
[1880–85; < New Latin Oscines < Latin oscen songbird]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
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| Noun | 1. | oscine - passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus passeriform bird, passerine - perching birds mostly small and living near the ground with feet having 4 toes arranged to allow for gripping the perch; most are songbirds; hatchlings are helpless Oscines, Passeres, suborder Oscines, suborder Passeres - two names for the suborder of typical songbirds honey eater, honeysucker - Australasian bird with tongue and bill adapted for extracting nectar accentor - small sparrow-like songbird of mountainous regions of Eurasia lark - any of numerous predominantly Old World birds noted for their singing wagtail - Old World bird having a very long tail that jerks up and down as it walks pipit, titlark, lark - a songbird that lives mainly on the ground in open country; has streaky brown plumage finch - any of numerous small songbirds with short stout bills adapted for crushing seeds honeycreeper - small bright-colored tropical American songbird with a curved bill for sucking nectar weaver finch, weaverbird, weaver - finch-like African and Asian colonial birds noted for their elaborately woven nests flycatcher, Old World flycatcher, true flycatcher - any of a large group of small songbirds that feed on insects taken on the wing thrush - songbirds characteristically having brownish upper plumage with a spotted breast warbler - a small active songbird babbler, cackler - any of various insectivorous Old World birds with a loud incessant song; in some classifications considered members of the family Muscicapidae bird of paradise - any of numerous brilliantly colored plumed birds of the New Guinea area Old World oriole, oriole - mostly tropical songbird; the male is usually bright orange and black starling - gregarious birds native to the Old World corvine bird - birds of the crow family Australian magpie - black-and-white oscine birds that resemble magpies Mimus polyglotktos, mockingbird, mocker - long-tailed grey-and-white songbird of the southern United States able to mimic songs of other birds blue mockingbird, Melanotis caerulescens - mockingbird of Mexico Dumetella carolinensis, gray catbird, grey catbird, catbird - North American songbird whose call resembles a cat's mewing mocking thrush, thrasher - thrush-like American songbird able to mimic other birdsongs New Zealand wren - birds of New Zealand that resemble wrens tree creeper, creeper - any of various small insectivorous birds of the northern hemisphere that climb up a tree trunk supporting themselves on stiff tail feathers and their feet nuthatch, nutcracker - any of various small short-tailed songbirds with strong feet and a sharp beak that feed on small nuts and insects bluebird, fairy bluebird - fruit-eating mostly brilliant blue songbird of the East Indies swallow - small long-winged songbird noted for swift graceful flight and the regularity of its migrations swallow shrike, wood swallow - Australasian and Asiatic bird related to the shrikes and resembling a swallow tanager - any of numerous New World woodland birds having brightly colored males shrike - any of numerous Old World birds having a strong hooked bill that feed on smaller animals bowerbird, catbird - any of various birds of the Australian region whose males build ornamented structures resembling bowers in order to attract females water ouzel, dipper - small stocky diving bird without webbed feet; frequents fast-flowing streams and feeds along the bottom vireo - any of various small insectivorous American birds chiefly olive-grey in color waxwing - brown velvety-plumaged songbirds of the northern hemisphere having crested heads and red waxy wing tips |
| Adj. | 1. | oscine - of or relating to the songbirds |
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