noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of various small American birds in the family Trochilidae that have the ability to hover.

   "Soon I hear the low all-pervading hum of an approaching hummingbird circling above the rock, …"

2. 2
   tiny American bird having brilliant iridescent plumage and long slender bills; wings are specialized for vibrating flight wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

hummermagpie

Example

More examples

"A hummingbird is no larger than a butterfly."

Etymology

From humming (noun) + bird, in reference to the humming sound made by the rapidly moving wings.

Related phrases

Allen's hummingbirdAnna's hummingbirdCosta's hummingbirdLucifer hummingbirdbee hummingbirdgarnet-throated hummingbirdhummingbird hawkmothhummingbird mothhummingbird sagehummingbird vineruby-throated hummingbirdrufous hummingbird

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.