blackbird

[ blak-burd ]

noun

1. a common European thrush, Turdus merula, the male of which is black with a yellow bill.
2. any of several American birds of the family Icteridae, having black plumage. Compare crow blackbird, red-winged blackbird, rusty blackbird.
3. any of several other unrelated birds having black plumage in either or both sexes.
4. History/Historical. a person, especially a Pacific Islander, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery abroad, usually in Australia.

verb (used with object)

1. to kidnap (a person), as in blackbirding.

verb (used without object)

1. to engage in blackbirding.

blackbird

/ ˈblækˌbɜːd /

noun

1. a common European thrush, Turdus merula , in which the male has a black plumage and yellow bill and the female is brown
2. any of various American orioles having a dark plumage, esp any of the genus Agelaius
3. history a person, esp a South Sea Islander, who was kidnapped and sold as a slave, esp in Australia

verb

1. tr (formerly) to kidnap and sell into slavery

Word History and Origins

Origin of blackbird¹

First recorded in 1480–90; earlier blacke bride; black, bird

Example Sentences

Yet at its best, the Robertson tribute — produced by Nashville’s Blackbird Presents, which also put on Willie Nelson’s two-night 90th-birthday extravaganza last year at the Hollywood Bowl — had a liveliness that cut through the many-layered retrospection of it all.

From Los Angeles Times

A play like Harrower’s “Blackbird,” too morally disquieting to be produced by the city’s risk-averse big-budget theaters, appealed to Flynn’s heterodox side.

From Los Angeles Times

Produced by Blackbird Presents, which also put on Willie Nelson’s two-night 90th-birthday concert last year at the Hollywood Bowl, the Forum show will come 50 years after the Band wrapped its storied tour with Bob Dylan at the Inglewood arena in 1974.

From Los Angeles Times

Invitation Homes, which owns 12,000 homes in the state, will pay $8 million to Los Angeles and 34 other cities, $8 million to Blackbird Special Ventures, a San Diego-based business that brought the lawsuit, and $4 million in attorney’s fees, under a proposed settlement filed in federal court Monday.

From Los Angeles Times

Blackbird, which is owned by La Jolla entrepreneur Neil Senturia, sued Invitation Homes in 2020, alleging that the home rental company purchased properties and then systematically made renovations without permits, including significant demolitions, electrical and plumbing repairs and swimming pool construction.

From Los Angeles Times