whitethroatn.adj.
/ˈwʌɪtθrəʊt/, U.S. /ˈ(h)waɪtˌθroʊt/ A. n.
1. Any of several Eurasian warblers of the genus Sylvia (family Sylviidae) which have a white throat (typically contrasting with a dark head); esp. (more fully common whitethroat) S. communis, and (in full lesser whitethroat) S. curruca.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Sylvia > sylvia communis (whitethroat)
whey-beard1614
glut1661
muff1661
whitethroat1673
nettle-monger1712
whitethroat warbler1817
whey-bird1825
muggy1829
nettle-tom1830
muffit1837
mufty1837
nettle creeper1845
feather-bed1854
jackstraw1879
feather-bird1885
mealy-mouth1885
miller1885
muffya1886
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Sylvia > sylvia curruca
whitethroat1673
whitethroat warbler1817
1673 J. Ray Coll. Eng. Words 87 The White-throat.
1681 N. Grew Compar. Anat. Stomachs & Guts viii. 38 in Musæum Regalis Societatis The White-Throat hath no small Gut.
1774 G. White Let. 2 Sept. in Nat. Hist. Selborne (1789) 103 The note of the white-throat, which is continually repeated, and often attended with odd gesticulations on the wing, is harsh and displeasing.
1830 W. Cobbett Rural Rides in Weekly Polit. Reg. 17 Apr. 494 The sweet and soft voice of the white-throat.
1845 R. Browning Home Thoughts from Abroad i, in Bells & Pomegranates No. VII: Dramatic Romances & Lyrics 8/2 And after April, when May follows, And the whitethroat builds, and all the swallows.
1909 W. H. Hudson Afoot in Eng. xxiv. 289 I also love the smaller vocalists—the modest shuffle-wing and the lesser whitethroat.
1974 W. Condry Woodlands v. 64 Garden warbler, whitethroat and lesser whitethroat—are regular inhabitants of oakwoods.
2012 Birdwatch Apr. 7/1 The first bursts of song from either Lesser or Common Whitethroat are warmly anticipated by birders.
2. North American. The white-throated sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Zonotrichia
white-throated sparrow1760
whitethroat sparrow1791
Peabody bird1856
whitethroata1862
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Maine Woods (1864) iii. 198 We heard the white throats along the shore.
1902 S. E. White Blazed Trail xviii. 139 The notes of the white-throat—the nightingale of the North.
1939 R. T. Peterson Field Guide Birds East of Rockies 159 The White-throat is often called the ‘Peabody bird’ by New Englanders who fancy these whistled notes sound like Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody.
2012 J. H. Mitchell Last of Bird People 16 Soon the white-throats would come and after them the juncos and then the frosts and the end of summer.
B. adj.
1. whitethroat sparrow n. [compare scientific Latin albicollis, specific name (1789)] North American = sense A. 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > seed eaters > [noun] > family Emberizidae > subfamily Emberizinae (bunting) > genus Zonotrichia
white-throated sparrow1760
whitethroat sparrow1791
Peabody bird1856
whitethroata1862
1791 W. Bartram Trav. N. & S. Carolina ii. x. 291 F[ringilla] fusca; the large brown white throat sparrow.
1916 D. C. Scott Poems (1927) 47 A rocky islet followed With one lone poplar and a single nest Of white-throat-sparrows that took no rest.
1984 T. Howard & J. I. Packer Christianity vii. 144 No white-throat sparrow or winter wren has ever opened a new musical epoch.
2. whitethroat warbler n. now rare = sense A. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Sylvia > sylvia communis (whitethroat)
whey-beard1614
glut1661
muff1661
whitethroat1673
nettle-monger1712
whitethroat warbler1817
whey-bird1825
muggy1829
nettle-tom1830
muffit1837
mufty1837
nettle creeper1845
feather-bed1854
jackstraw1879
feather-bird1885
mealy-mouth1885
miller1885
muffya1886
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > family Muscicapidae (thrushes, etc.) > subfamily Sylviidae (warbler) > [noun] > genus Sylvia > sylvia curruca
whitethroat1673
whitethroat warbler1817
1817 T. Forster Synoptical Catal. Brit. Birds 53 Sylvia Cinerea, whitethroat warbler. Sylvia Sylviella, lesser whitethroat warbler.
1876 Rep. & Trans. Devonshire Assoc. 8 265 The White-throat Warbler... Common everywhere.
2013 E. L. Baker Slow New Forest 125 He..set it [sc. his tripod] back down so we all could have a view of the next sighting, a whitethroat Warbler.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2015; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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n.adj.1673