ibis

noun

ˈī-bəs 

plural ibis or ibises

: any of various chiefly tropical or subtropical wading birds (family Threskiornithidae) related to the herons but distinguished by a long slender downwardly curved bill

Illustration of ibis

Examples of ibis in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Naish looks at that long curved snout and sees an ibis, one of the wading birds with a slender downcurved bill. — Niranjana Rajalakshmi, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2026

The co-creative directors even included a plush creature in one of their designs, a white halter-neck dress that could be a swan or an American white ibis. — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 8 Sep. 2026

Birders should keep their binoculars handy, as the lake hosts more than 150 different species over the course of the year, among them rarer birds like sandhill cranes and white-faced ibis. — Cu Fleshman, Travel + Leisure, 25 Aug. 2026

Most of the items for sale were mummified human remains, usually body parts such as hands and feet, or heads (like Peruvian shrunken heads); six were animals, specifically a cat, a falcon, an ibis, a perch, and a primate skull. — Jennifer Ouellette, ArsTechnica, 24 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, from Latin, from Greek, from Egyptian hbw

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

ibis

noun

ˈī-bəs 

plural ibis or ibises

: any of several wading birds that differ from the related herons in having a long slender bill that curves downward