titmouse
pronunciation
How to pronounce titmouse in British English:
UK ['tɪtˌmaʊs]
How to pronounce titmouse in American English:
US ['tɪtˌmaʊs]
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- Noun:
- small insectivorous birds
Word Origin
- titmouse
- titmouse: see tit
- titmouse (n.)
- small, active bird, early 14c., titmose, from tit (n.2), expressing something small, + Old English mase "titmouse," from Proto-Germanic *maison (cognates: Dutch mees, German meise), from adj. *maisa- "little, tiny." Spelling influenced 16c. by unrelated mouse, "when mose had long been obsolete as an independent word" [OED]. The proper plural is titmouses.
Example
- 1. The beauty of a titmouse lies in its glib mouth
- 2. Crested titmouse of eastern and midwestern united states .
- 3. " In that case I must tell you a marvelous story , " the titmouse said .
- 4. He looked up and saw a hunting owl had just snatched a little bird , a titmouse , out of the air .
- 5. " Tell me the weight of a snowflake , " a titmouse asked a wild dove .