chaffinch Hear it!

chaffinch Definition

chaf·finch (c̸hafinc̸h′)

noun

a small European finch (Fringilla coelebs) that has a white patch on each shoulder: often kept in a cage as a pet

Etymology: OE ceaffinc: see chaff & finch: it eats chaff and grain

chaffinch Usage Examples

Converse of object

  • find: After the walk we headed for Chorros de Espina and found two Chaffinch.

Adjective modifier

  • female: A female Chaffinch was seen once at the weekend on the ground in the garden, she has not been seen at the feeders.
  • male: This male chaffinch was waiting for his turn at the bird feeder.
  • few: Island Canaries and a few Chaffinches were in some fields and along the roadside verge were some Small Blue butterflies.
  • blue: We soon found a group of blue chaffinches feeding by the picnic tables, with a few canaries.
  • several: Our first winter visitor, a brambling, seen in the garden among several chaffinches.

Modifies a noun

  • singing: A young bird, within the first year of life, hears other chaffinches singing.
chaffinch Quotes

Oh, to be in England Now that April's there, And whoever wakes in England Sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In Englandönow!

—Browning, Robert

Browse dictionary entries near chaffinch

  1. chaffer
  2. chaff
  3. chafer
  4. chafe
  5. chaetopod
  6. chaetognath
  7. chaeto-
  8. chaeta
  9. Chaeronea
  10. chaebol
  1. chaffy
  2. chafing dish
  3. Chagall
  4. Chagas' disease
  5. Chagos Archipelago
  6. Chagres
  7. chagrin
  8. chai
  9. chain
  10. chain gang