yellowhammer

[ yel-oh-ham-er ]

noun
  1. a common European bunting, Emberiza citrinella, the male of which is marked with bright yellow.

  2. Chiefly Southern U.S. a flicker, Colaptes auratus, having yellow wing and tail linings.

Origin of yellowhammer

1
1550–60; earlier also yelamber, yelambre, probably continuing Old English *geolu-amore, equivalent to geoluyellow + amore presumably, the bunting (cognate with Old Saxon amer,Old High German amaro;see emberizine); forms with -h- perhaps reflect blending with another etymon, later conformed to hammer (compare dial. yellowham)

Words Nearby yellowhammer

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use yellowhammer in a sentence

  • Each man wore upon his head a down head-net, a pair of trembler plumes, and a yellowhammer-feather forehead-band.

    Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians | Samuel Alfred Barrett
  • Upon the head was a feather tuft, a yellowhammer-feather forehead-band, two trembler plumes and some down.

    Ceremonies of the Pomo Indians | Samuel Alfred Barrett
  • There have been examples of chaffinches pairing with female canaries, and it has been said with a female yellowhammer.

  • Independently of the beak, this bird may be taken for a female yellowhammer, as it resembles it so much in its shape and plumage.

  • They are about the size of the yellowhammer, six inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures two.

British Dictionary definitions for yellowhammer

yellowhammer

/ (ˈjɛləʊˌhæmə) /


noun
  1. a European bunting, Emberiza citrinella, having a yellowish head and body and brown streaked wings and tail

  2. US and Canadian the yellow-shafted flicker, an American woodpecker: See flicker 2

Origin of yellowhammer

1
C16: of uncertain origin

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