osprey

noun

os·​prey ˈä-sprē  -ˌsprā 

plural ospreys

1

: a large fish-eating hawk (Pandion haliaetus) with long wings that is dark brown above and mostly pure white below

2

: a feather trimming used for millinery

Illustration of osprey

• osprey 1

Examples of osprey in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Overhead some osprey, a hawk and a bald eagle glided among the nearby tupelo, sweet gum and oak-hackberry forest trees. —Ricky Carioti, Washington Post, 5 July 2024

Or escape the crowds for Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a surprisingly tranquil 9,000-acre site with salt marshes and woods; and home to a thriving osprey population. —Kate Donnelly, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 July 2024

Plum Island is home to 227 species of birds, including piping plovers, roseate terns, Northern harriers, ospreys and American oystercatchers, according to Save the Sound’s Envision Plum Island Report. —Ed Stannard, Hartford Courant, 19 June 2024

The overexploitation of smaller fish deprives the larger wild fish that remain of their food; aquatic mammals and sea birds, such as ospreys and eagles, also go hungry. —Alan B. Sielen, Foreign Affairs, 15 Oct. 2013

Word History

Etymology

Middle English ospray, from Anglo-French *osfraie, from Latin ossifraga, a bird of prey

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

osprey

noun

os·​prey ˈäs-prē  -ˌprā 

plural ospreys

: a large hawk that is dark brown above and mostly white below and that feeds chiefly on fish

called also fish hawk