lorikeet

noun

lor·​i·​keet ˈlȯr-ə-ˌkēt 

ˈlär-

: any of numerous small arboreal chiefly Australasian parrots (family Loriidae) that usually have long slender tongue papillae which form an organ resembling a brush

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Special draws include giraffe feeding, Treetop Trek Aerial Adventures, a kangaroo walkabout and the chance to feed lorikeets. —Patrick Connolly, Orlando Sentinel, 17 Feb. 2023

No more volunteering or group lunches, nothing really, beyond the backyard of their home in Geelong, outside Melbourne, where socializing was reduced to a tree filled with rainbow lorikeets. —Damien Cave, New York Times, 25 Mar. 2020

Relentlessly chirpy, the noisy miner blasts the alarm before dawn alongside the screeching and flapping of rainbow lorikeets, parrots brighter than Magic Markers and that argue like toddlers. —New York Times, 21 Sep. 2019

Hello, rainbow lorikeets, and welcome back to another edition of This Week in Timothée Chalamet. —Cady Drell, Marie Claire, 26 July 2019

Word History

Etymology

lory + -keet (as in parakeet)

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above