long-billn.2
/ˈlɒŋbɪl/, U.S. /ˈlɔŋˈˌbɪl/, /ˈlɑŋˈˌbɪl/ A bird (or fish) with a long bill.Frequently as a shortened form of the name of a long-billed species (cf. long-billed adj.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > parts of or bird defined by > [noun] > beak or bill > of particular shape > bird having
long-bill1835
tenuiroster1842
sickle-bill1872
1835 C. F. Partington Brit. Cycl. Nat. Hist. I. 416/1 The fourth group [of birds], Longirostres (long-bills), is also tolerably natural, though the single epithet ‘long’ is hardly sufficiently expressive of bills of so many different shapes and textures.
1884 Times (Weekly ed.) 3 Oct. 14/1 One thousand one hundred and fifty sounds a satisfactory bag of the ‘long-bills’.
1977 J. Bull & J. Farrand Audubon Soc. Field Guide Birds N. Amer.: Eastern Region 622 Many nests have been found, but details of the Long-bill's..habits remain relatively unknown.
1992 Tucson (Arizona) Weekly 15 Jan. 32/2 Gigantic factory ships..are having a serious impact on longbill, squid and other pelagic fishes.
2004 Wildlife Conservation Feb. 46/1 Now these vultures have nearly disappeared. In two weeks, I saw only ten white-backs and no long-bills.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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