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ouzel

ouzel

9.9
A bird like a blackbird or dipper that lives in Europe and Asia
  • noun
  • /ˈaʊzəl/
  • Archaic
translation icon : mirlo
  • You may hear an ouzel singing in the willows during springtime.
  • water ouzel

Examples

  • It was a ring ouzel, and as this shy bird speared its way to the ridge on the moorland edge, it also drilled down through 35 years of memory to my first-ever encounter with the species.

    Blog text (3)
  • Dippers, or water ouzels, are known for their unique fishing behavior in clear streams.

  • I suspect the poets are proclaiming what we all feel and what I felt when that ring ouzel rose from the rowan tree.

    Blog text (3)
  • And in the ring, ouzel's millennial-long journey through time, this was the first moment that I personally intercepted; it's a moment I still cherish.

    Blog text (3)
  • Dippers, or water ouzels, are short-tailed, dark gray birds that live along stream edges year-round.

    Academic text (1991)
  • By a bridge abutment, nesting ouzels trilled their mating song, creating a beautiful melody.

Synonyms

blackbird
vsouzel
  • UK
8 1.0

A common songbird in Europe with black feathers and a yellow beak

is broader, applying to that thrush sense and to a diving river bird
merle
vsouzel
  • UK
8 9.9

A common black bird in Europe with a yellow beak and a sweet song

is broader, used for that songful thrush and for a stream-diving bird
merl
vsouzel
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A common bird in Europe with all black feathers that sings in gardens

is the modern general term that also covers a different aquatic bird
ousel
vsouzel
  • Archaic
9.9

A black bird that sings, like a blackbird or ring ouzel

is broader and also names a separate stream-diving bird found in rivers
European blackbird
vsouzel
  • UK
3.8

A common bird with a black male and a brown female that sings a beautiful song

is broader, also covering an unrelated small bird that dives in streams
Turdus merula
vsouzel
  • Specialized
8.9

A common European songbird with males black and females brown

is a general name that includes that scientific species and another aquatic species
ring ouzel
vsouzel
  • UK
9.9

A European bird often found on rocky hills with dark feathers and a white band on the male's neck

is broader, used for that thrush type and for a river-diving species
water ouzel
vsouzel
9.5

A small, strong bird that lives by fast streams and dives into water to get food

is broader, also applying to the land-dwelling European thrush sense
9.9

A small bird with a white throat that lives by rivers and dives for insects

is broader, used both for that aquatic bird and for a separate thrush

Compounds

A small bird that lives by streams and dives underwater to catch insects

A small bird with a white throat that lives by rivers and dives for insects

9.9

A European bird often found on rocky hills with dark feathers and a white band on the male's neck

A small, strong bird that lives by fast streams and dives into water to get food

Surface Forms

ouzel singular
ouzels plural

Etymology

Ouzel comes from an old English form ousel, which simply meant 'dark, thrush-like bird'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of ouzel as an old name for a blackbird or the river dipper, so the word still means a dark bird you might see by hedges or rivers.