Osprey

//ˈɑspɹi// noun

noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A bird of prey of genus Pandion that feeds on fish and has white underparts and long, narrow wings each ending in four finger-like extensions.

    "1594, George Peele (attributed), The Battle of Alcazar I will provide thee of a princely osprey."

  2. 2
    large harmless hawk found worldwide that feeds on fish and builds a bulky nest often occupied for years wordnet
  3. 3
    Aigrette (ornamental feather).

Synonyms

All synonyms
fish eaglefish hawkfish eaglefish hawkmagpieorfray

Example

More examples

"The osprey and the sea mew, fly down to catch fish, but the Heron catches them while standing on the banks. The bittern puts its bill into the water and bellows like an ox. The water wagtail wags its tail."

Etymology

From Late Middle English ospray, from Anglo-Norman ospriet, from Medieval Latin avis praedae (“bird of prey”), a generic term apparently confused with this specific bird in Old French on its similarity to ossifrage.

Related phrases

eastern ospreywestern ospreybird of preypandion haliaetus

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