finch

noun

\ ˈfinch

Definition of finch

: any of numerous passerine songbirds (families Fringillidae, Estrildidae, Emberizidae, and Cardinalidae) having a short stout usually conical bill adapted for crushing seeds

Examples of finch in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Audubon recommends mixed seeds or black oil sunflower seeds for attracting chickadees and finches and hanging a suet feeder for woodpeckers. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "Here's How Birds Stay Warm in the Winter, In Case You Were Wondering," 1 Feb. 2019 Someone had the audacity to attempt to smuggle 70 finches hidden inside hair rollers onto a flight from Georgetown, Guyana, to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. — Sam Blum, Popular Mechanics, "Customs Officials Seize 70 Finches Crammed into Hair Rollers at John F. Kennedy Airport," 13 Dec. 2018 Two men stuffed 26 finches into hair curlers and their socks and took a flight from Guyana to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, police say. — Josh Magness, miamiherald, "Men smuggled 26 birds in socks, hair curlers to get them in a singing contest, officials say | Miami Herald," 5 Apr. 2018 What the finches ate required beaks best suited to eat it. — Jill Kiedaisch, Popular Mechanics, "BREAKING: Mystery of Square Wombat Poop Revealed," 20 Nov. 2018 In the hallways, cream walls with brown runner carpets will give way to white walls and bright blue-and-green carpet featuring the hotel's signature birds, finches. — Chabeli Herrera, miamiherald, "The Biltmore Hotel is transforming for the 21st century. You won't recognize the rooms.," 27 June 2018 Those who attend can place bets on the winner, officials say, and the victorious finch can nab its owner around $5,000 in some cases. — Josh Magness, miamiherald, "Men smuggled 26 birds in socks, hair curlers to get them in a singing contest, officials say | Miami Herald," 5 Apr. 2018 Darwin’s ideas about evolution were based on the observable characteristics of his finches. — Kat Eschner, Smithsonian, "What We Can Learn From a New Bird Tree of Life," 21 Apr. 2018 Presently, an invasive parasitic fly threatens to render the endemic mangrove finch—of which only an estimated 100 remain—extinct. — Alexandra Kirkman, Fortune, "Visit the Galapagos Like a Royal," 23 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'finch.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for finch

Middle English fynche, fynch, going back to Old English fink, going back to West Germanic *finki-, *finkja-, perhaps going back to an Indo-European echoic noun base *ping-, whence also Greek pínga "nestling" and, with mobile s, Greek spíngon "siskin," Old Norse spiki "tit, Swedish spink "finch" (in regional gulspink "yellowhammer" or "great tit"), dialectal English spink "finch" (perhaps borrowed from Scandinavian)