any songbird of the chiefly Old World family Laniidae, having a heavy hooked bill and feeding on smaller animals which they sometimes impale on thorns, barbed wire, etc
See also bush shrike (sense 1)
2.
any of various similar but unrelated birds, such as the cuckoo shrikes
3. shrike thrush
Word origin
Old English scrīc thrush; related to Middle Dutch schrīk corncrake; see screech1, shriek
bush shrike in British English
noun
1.
any shrike of the African subfamily Malaconotinae, such as Chlorophoneus nigrifrons (black-fronted bush shrike)
2. another name for antbird
shrike in American English
(ʃraɪk)
noun
any of a family (Laniidae) of predatory, shrill-voiced passerine birds with hooked beaks, gray, black, and white plumage, and long tails: most types feed on insects, some on small birds, frogs, etc., which they may impale on thorns before eating
Word origin
via dial. < OE scric, thrush, shrike, akin to ME schriken, shriek
Examples of 'shrike' in a sentence
shrike
Exotic birds: a toucan, a bateleur eagle, something called a shrike.
various & introduction by Deirdre Chapman A ROOMFUL OF BIRDS - SCOTTISH SHORT STORIES 1990
All related terms of 'shrike'
bush shrike
any shrike of the African subfamily Malaconotinae , such as Chlorophoneus nigrifrons ( black-fronted bush shrike )
cuckoo shrike
any Old World tropical songbird of the family Campephagidae, typically having a strong notched bill , long rounded tail , and pointed wings
drongo shrike
any insectivorous songbird of the family Dicruridae, of the Old World tropics , having a glossy black plumage , a forked tail, and a stout bill
shrike thrush
a person lacking in intelligence
loggerhead shrike
a North American shrike , Lanius ludovicianus, having a grey head and body, black-and-white wings and tail , and black facial stripe
great grey shrike
the bird Lanius excubitor
red-backed shrike
a common Eurasian shrike , Lanius collurio , the male of which has a grey crown and rump , brown wings and back, and a black-and-white face
woodchat
a songbird , Lanius senator , of Europe and N Africa, having a black-and-white plumage with a reddish-brown crown and a hooked bill: family Laniidae ( shrikes )