bobolink means an American migratory songbird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), resembling a blackbird with the bill of a finch. It carries an Arena rating of 1566, earned across 26 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, bobolink ranks #95 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #212 of 17,126 for Most Satisfying to Say, #214 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #428 of 17,163 for Funniest Words.
Why “bobolink” is a great word
A migratory American songbird whose male displays striking black, white, and buff plumage and sings a bubbling, tinkling song. Its name is imitative of its song, a shortening of 'Bob o' Lincoln' as heard by English speakers; first attested in American English in the late 18th century (as 'bob-lincoln' in 1774). Unlike the 'blackbird,' a general term for darker, less flamboyant relatives, or the 'meadowlark' with its bold breast and flute-like whistle, the bobolink is a specialist of the tall grass, a tuxedoed reveler in high summer. It is the sound of shaken porcelain bells rising from a hayfield, the flash of a white scapular against the deepening green, and the sight of a flock descending like wind-tossed char onto a southern rice plain—a brief, musical plenty before the long silence of migration.
Etymology
Imitative of its song. Compare Bob Lincoln.
noun
- An American migratory songbird (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), resembling a blackbird with the bill of a finch.e.g.“Lethe in my flower / Of which they who drink / In the fadeless orchards / Hear the bobolink.” — a. 1887 (date written), Emily Dickinson, “(please specify the chapter or poem)”, in M[abel] L[oomis] Todd and M[illicent] T[odd] Bingham, editors, Bolts of Melody, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, publis
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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