Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
short-billed

short-billed

5.8
A bird with a short beak
  • adjective
translation icon : de pico corto
  • Scientists observed that short-billed species often feed differently than their long-billed relatives.

Examples

  • Many coastal birds with short-billed features hunt for insects along muddy shores.

  • The short-billed bird landed on the branch.

  • The short-billed wren is easily identified by its unusually stubby beak.

  • I saw a short-billed species at the park.

  • The short-billed bird quickly snatched a worm from the ground before it could escape.

  • With its short-billed features, the sparrow easily navigated through the dense foliage.

  • The birdwatcher pointed out the short-billed species as they perched on a nearby branch.

Synonyms

short-beaked
vsshort-billed
5.7

An animal with a short beak

is limited to birds rather than animals more generally

How Short

short-billed
5.8

Surface Forms

short-billed positive

Morphology

short-billed = short + bill (transparent) = short + bill + ed

The adjective is a straightforward compound of 'short' and 'bill' (with '-ed' on 'bill'), so the meaning is directly derivable.

Etymology

Short-billed is a simple compound of short and bill, where bill means 'beak'. So a short-billed bird has a short beak, an easy picture to remember that this adjective describes birds with a stubby mouth compared with long-billed species.