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spoonbill

[ spoon-bil ]

noun

  1. any of several wading birds of the family Plataleidae, related to the ibises, having a long, flat bill with a spoonlike tip.
  2. any of various birds having a similar bill, as the shoveler duck.
  3. the paddlefish.


spoonbill

/ ˈspuːnˌbɪl /

noun

  1. any of several wading birds of warm regions, such as Platalea leucorodia ( common spoonbill ) and Ajaia ajaja ( roseate spoonbill ), having a long horizontally flattened bill: family Threskiornithidae, order Ciconiiformes
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of spoonbill1

First recorded in 1670–80; spoon + bill 2
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Example Sentences

So the Prince gave her back her shift, and she immediately turned into a spoonbill and flew away after her companions.

Among them, the scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbill excelled all others in gorgeousness of colouring.

The white ibis (Ibis melanocephala) is another wading bird, rather smaller than the spoonbill and with considerably shorter legs.

The beak is flattened laterally, that is in a plane at right angles to that of a Spoonbill or Duck.

Joseph Dixon implies that the eggs resemble those of the spoonbill sandpiper.

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spoon backspoonbill catfish