nuthatch
/ˈnʌtˌhæt͡ʃ/ noun
Forms nuthatches nuthack nothag nothagge
- noun Any of various small passerine birds from the genus Sitta, found throughout the northern hemisphere and noted for their unusual proclivity for climbing down trees head first.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English nutthache, notehache, nuthake, nuttehake, nothak, equivalent to nut + hatch (akin to hack). Compare English nutcracker.
Compare typologically Polish kowalik (akin to kować).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of several species of birds of the genus Sitta, as the European species (Sitta Europæa). The white-breasted nuthatch (S. Carolinensis), the red-breasted nuthatch (S. Canadensis), the pygmy nuthatch (S. pygmæa), and others, are American.
Etymology [OE. nuthake. See 2d Hack.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “nuthatch”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details