finch

noun

ˈfinch 

: 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

Providing plenty of trees and shrubs will attract finches, as will a finch feeder. —Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 15 Apr. 2025

Feeding the birds: Nyjer seed, also known as thistle seed, is a must for attracting colorful finches. —Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 13 Apr. 2025

Instead of a bland playlist, you ears will pick up on the cheerful chirps of finches from their nine-foot-tall birdcages. —Katie Chang, Forbes.com, 5 Apr. 2025

As the seeds mature, the flower heads remain attractive, taking on darker hues and drawing hungry songbirds to the garden, including finches, grosbeaks, and chickadees. —Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 29 Mar. 2025

Word History

Etymology

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)

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing finch

• house finch
• purple finch
• zebra finch

Rhymes for finch

• cinch
• flinch
• inch
• lynch
• pinch
• synch
• winch
• bullfinch
• goldfinch

Kids Definition

finch

noun

ˈfinch 

: any of numerous songbirds (as the sparrows, grosbeaks, crossbills, goldfinches, and buntings) that have a short stout bill adapted for crushing seeds