nuthatch

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a small, strong-footed songbird that climbs tree trunks, often head downward, and feeds on nuts and insects

   The nuthatch crept headfirst down the oak trunk while searching the bark for insects.

From Middle English nutthache and related forms, built from nut + an old verb related to hatch or hack, 'to cut or chop.' The bird was named for its habit of wedging nuts into bark and hammering them open with its bill.

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