fish hawk
1
4.9
- noun
- /fɪʃ hɔk/
:
águila pescadora
- Ospreys, commonly known as fish hawks, are famous for their impressive nesting skills around lakes and rivers.
Examples
-
The fish hawk swooped down and caught a fish from the lake with its sharp talons.
-
They say there is a bird, the osprey, the fish hawk, so majestic it can mesmerize.
Academic text (2015) -
As the sun set, we watched a fish hawk soaring gracefully over the river, searching for its next meal.
Synonyms
11
6.7
A large bird that dives to catch fish near rivers and lakes
A large bird of prey that eats fish and builds big nests for years
A large bird that hunts fish near the sea
A large bird that catches fish and often builds big nests near water
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'fish hawk' is a straightforward noun–noun composition where 'fish' specifies the hawk's diet; its meaning (a hawk that feeds on fish, e.g. an osprey) is directly derivable from the constituents. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows regular English modifier+head morphology, so a B1 learner who knows 'fish' and 'hawk' will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
The name fish hawk comes from a simple picture: a hawk that catches fish. The parts fish and hawk show what it does, so the name means the bird 'that hunts fish', the osprey.