sparrow
pronunciation
How to pronounce sparrow in British English:
UK [ˈspærəʊ]
How to pronounce sparrow in American English:
US [ˈspæroʊ]
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- Noun:
- any of several small dull-colored singing birds feeding on seeds or insects
- small brownish European songbird
Word Origin
- sparrow (n.)
- small brownish-gray bird (Passer domesticus), Old English spearwa, from Proto-Germanic *sparwan (cognates: Old Norse spörr, Old High German sparo, German Sperling, Gothic sparwa), from PIE *spor-wo-, from root *sper- (3), forming names of small birds (cognates: Cornish frau "crow;" Old Prussian spurglis "sparrow;" Greek spergoulos "small field bird," psar "starling"). In use, with qualifying words, of many small, sparrow-like birds. Sparrowfarts (1886) was Cheshire slang for "very early morning."
Example
- 1. Sparrow , won 't you fly down south by me ?
- 2. Researchers compared white-crowned sparrow songs recorded in 1969 and 2005 .
- 3. The adaptable sparrow , however , simply changed its tune .
- 4. No one , however , could outdo the sparrow tsar , or so you might think .
- 5. Compared to the ballooning ecb balance sheet , the boj 's ten trillion yen of new asset purchases are little more than " the tears of a sparrow " .