red-bellied woodpecker

noun

red-bel·​lied woodpecker

: a woodpecker (Melanerpes carolinus) of the eastern U.S. that has a barred black-and-white back, grayish-tan underparts tinged with red on the belly, and a red crown and nape in the male and a red nape in the female

Fifty feet from the nest I'm watching, a larger red-bellied woodpecker lands at another hole.

—Dan Guynn, Jr.

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for red-bellied woodpecker

• checker
• chequer
• decker
• wrecker
• exchequer