: 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
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The rusty observation tower at the edge of this wastewater-fed marsh offers an osprey-eye view of two possible futures for the parched and overworked Colorado River.—Brandon Loomis, AZCentral.com, 15 Dec. 2025 For someone like me who needs to nest like an osprey, moving from my home of eight years to nowhere feels like falling out of a plane with no parachute.—Marni Jameson, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2025 An osprey carrying a fish in its claws.—Simon Willis, Travel + Leisure, 5 Oct. 2025 The fleet has become a rich habitat for marine life, as well as seabirds such as ospreys.—Sujita Sinha, Interesting Engineering, 26 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for osprey
Word History
Etymology
Middle English ospray, from Anglo-French *osfraie, from Latin ossifraga, a bird of prey
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