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Glite Dictionary
belted kingfisher

belted kingfisher

1 8.3
A North American bird with blue-grey feathers and a brown band across its chest
  • noun
  • /ˈbɛltɪd ˈkɪŋˌfɪʃər/
  • US
translation icon : martinete de pecho castaño
  • While we were canoeing, a belted kingfisher dove into the water to catch a fish.

Examples

  • Muskrats played in a freshwater pond as a belted kingfisher perched, waiting for a meal to swim by.

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  • The belted kingfisher is easily recognized by the striking chestnut band across its chest.

  • As we watched from the shore, a belted kingfisher flew by, its blue feathers shimmering in the sunlight.

Surface Forms

belted kingfisher singular
belted kingfishers plural

Morphology

belted + kingfisher

This is a straightforward compositional noun phrase: 'belted' describes a kingfisher that has a belt-like (band) marking on its chest, so the overall meaning can be derived from the constituents. Descriptive adjective + animal constructions are cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely understand it.

Etymology

Belted kingfisher: The name belted kingfisher comes from the bird's look. The word belted means a clear band across its chest, and kingfisher is a bird that dives to catch fish, so the name describes a fish-catching bird with a 'belt' of color on its chest.