nightingale Hear it!

Jump To: synonymsSynonyms · examplesUsage Examples · quotesQuotes · linkLink/Cite
Also found in: medicalAH Medical Dictionary
nightingale definition

night·in·gale (nīt'n gāl′)

noun

any of various small European thrushes (genus Luscinia) with a russet back and buff to white underparts: the male is known for its varied, melodious singing, esp. at night during the breeding season

Etymology: ME nigtingale, for earlier nihtegale < OE (akin to Ger nachtigall) < niht, night + base of galan, to sing, akin to giellan, yell

Nightingale definition

Night·in·gale (nīt'n gāl′)

Nightingale, Florence 1820-1910; Eng. nurse in the Crimean War: regarded as the founder of modern nursing

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Alternate definitions:
nightingale Synonyms

nightingale

n.


Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

nightingale Usage Examples

Possessives

  • song: When the rose is gone and the garden faded you will no longer hear the nightingale's song.

Converse of object

  • hear: The best time to hear nightingales at Paxton is at dawn or dusk, in scrub along the Haul Road or the Heronry Trail.

Adjective modifier

  • real: When it was wound up, it sounded like the real nightingale.

Modifies a noun

  • floor: They are called nightingale floors because they sing like birds as people walk across them.

Noun used with modifier

  • florence: Type the words florence nightingale into the Search box and click the Go button to see the results.
nightingale usage examples (more)

The word usage examples above have been gathered from various sources to reflect current and historical usage. They do not represent the opinions of YourDictionary.com.

nightingale quotes

Hark! ah, the Nightingale! The tawny-throated! Hark! from that moonlit cedar what a burst! What triumph! harköwhat pain!

-Arnold, Matthew

Ask me no more whither dost haste The nightingale when May is past; For in your sweet dividing throat She winters, and keeps warm her note.

-Carew,Thomas

And hark! the Nightingale begins its song, 'Most musical, most melancholy' bird! A melancholy bird?†his song Should make all Nature lovelier, and itself Be loved like Nature!

-Coleridge, Samuel Taylor

nightingale quotes (more)

Webster's New World Dictionary of Quotations Copyright © 2005 by Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Published by Wiley, Hoboken, NJ. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Link to this page:

Cite this page:

MLA Style

"nightingale." Webster's New World College Dictionary. 2009

  • Your Dictionary. 5 July 2009
  • <www.yourdictionary.com/nightingale>

APA Style

nightingale. (2009). In Webster's New World College Dictionary

  • Retrieved July 5th, 2009, from www.yourdictionary.com/nightingale

Comments:

Please or Register to post a comment