Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
shrike [shrahyk] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- any of numerous predaceous oscine birds of the family Laniidae, having a strong, hooked, and toothed bill, feeding on insects and sometimes on small birds and other animals: the members of certain species impale their prey on thorns or suspend it from the branches of trees to tear it apart more easily, and are said to kill more than is necessary for them to eat.
- any of several other birds having similar bills, as the vanga shrikes.
- (initial capital letter) Military. a 10-foot (3-meter), 400-pound (180-kg) U.S. air-to-ground missile designed to destroy missile batteries by homing in on their radar emissions.
Origin of shrike 1535–45; perhaps continuing Old English scrīc thrush; akin to Old Norse skrīkja to twitter; see shriek Examples from the Web for shrike Historical Examples of shrike
The shrike is said to catch mice, but it is not known to attack squirrels.
Squirrels and Other Fur-Bearers
John Burroughs
But the shrike pleaded his innocence, and I had no proof against him.
L. Frank Baum
The shrike did not see him till the owl was almost within the branches.
John Burroughs
It is unusual to see a shrike at as high an elevation as 6000 feet.
Douglas Dewar
It was the shrike, who thought he was sure of a dinner when he saw those canaries.
John Burroughs
British Dictionary definitions for shrike shrike noun
- Also called: butcherbird any songbird of the chiefly Old World family Laniidae, having a heavy hooked bill and feeding on smaller animals which they sometimes impale on thorns, barbed wire, etcSee also bush shrike (def. 1)
- any of various similar but unrelated birds, such as the cuckoo shrikes
- shrike thrush or shrike tit another name for thickhead (def. 2)
Word Origin for shrike Old English scrīc thrush; related to Middle Dutch schrīk corncrake; see screech 1, shriek Word Origin and History for shrike n.
1540s, apparently from a survival of Old English scric “a shrike or thrush,” literally “bird with a shrill call,” probably echoic of its cry and related to shriek (cf. Old Norse skrikja “shrieker, shrike,” German schrik “moor hen,” Swedish skrika “jay”).