hummingbird

Definition

Any of various small American birds in the family Trochilidae that have the ability to hover.

Etymology

From humming (noun) + bird, in reference to the humming sound made by the rapidly moving wings.

Example Sentences

• "Soon I hear the low all-pervading hum of an approaching hummingbird circling above the rock, …"
• "Beyond the veranda was a small cleared garden, bounded with cactus hedges and adorned with clumps of flowering shrubs, round which the great blue butterflies and the tiny humming-birds fluttered and darted in crescents of sparkling light."

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