linnet
Americannoun
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a small Old World finch, Carduelis cannabina.
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any of various related birds, as the house finch.
noun
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a brownish Old World finch, Acanthis cannabina : the male has a red breast and forehead
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Also called: house finch. a similar and related North American bird, Carpodacus mexicanus
Etymology
Origin of linnet
1520–30; earlier linet < Middle French (Walloon, Picard ) linette ( French linot, linotte ), derivative of lin flax ( line 1; so named for its diet of flaxseeds); -et
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They provide habitat for red-listed farmland birds such as corn bunting, yellowhammer and linnet, as well as winter food for visiting species including fieldfares and redwings.
From BBC • Mar. 15, 2026
A startled linnet fled from the whirling blades towards the rose-garden.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Louder yet calmer than they, among the trees, sounded the yellowhammer, the linnet and greenfinch.
From "Watership Down: A Novel" by Richard Adams
“Books! ’tis a dull and endless strife, Come and hear the woodland linnet; How sweet his music!
From Aileen Aroon, A Memoir With other Tales of Faithful Friends and Favourites by Stables, Gordon
Likewise grosbeak, linnet, wren— And all the fairies joined "amen!"
From The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout an anthological volume of trout fishing, trout histories, trout lore, trout resorts, and trout tackle by Bradford, Charles Barker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
