brown thrasher

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a reddish-brown North American songbird (Toxostoma rufum) with a long tail, streaked underparts, and a varied song

   A brown thrasher sang from the top of the hedgerow at dawn.

A compound of brown and thrasher. The bird name thrasher, recorded in the late eighteenth century, is probably an alteration of dialectal thresher or thrush. The scientific name Toxostoma rufum combines Greek toxon, 'bow,' and stoma, 'mouth,' with Latin rufum, 'reddish,' referring to its curved bill and color.

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