throstle

American  

[thros-uhl] / ˈθrɒs əl /

noun

1. British (chiefly Literary). the song thrush.

2. Obsolete. a machine for spinning wool, cotton, etc., in which the twisting and winding are simultaneous and continuous.

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throstle British  

/ ˈθrɒsəl /

noun

1. a poetic name for the thrush, esp the song thrush

2. a spinning machine for wool or cotton in which the fibres are twisted and wound continuously

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Etymology

Origin of throstle

before 900; Middle English, Old English; cognate with Dutch drossel, German Drossel; akin to Old Norse thrǫstr, Latin turdus thrush

Example Sentences

"What do you think of this passage?" he scornfully asked a Shakespearean enthusiast: " 'I would as lief be thrust through a quicket hedge as cry Pooh to a callow throstle.'"

From Time Magazine Archive

And as they rode along, Lady mine, The throstle gave them song, And the buds peeped through the grass To see youth and beauty pass, Lady mine.

From In the Saddle A Collection of Poems on Horseback-Riding by Various

A jolly old throstle is singing away in the elm which overhangs the parson's gate.

From Despair's Last Journey by Murray, David Christie

What though the throstle pour his heart away, A happy spendthrift of uncounted gold, Swinging upon a blossomed briar With soft throat lifted in a wild desire To make the world his may.

From Collected Poems Volume One by Noyes, Alfred

Bunnie to bunnie stamped; old Wat Chin-deep in bracken sate; A throstle piped, "I'm by, I'm by!"

From Down-Adown-Derry A Book of Fairy Poems by De la Mare, Walter