finch

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

finch, n. [AS. finc; akin to D. vink, OHG. fincho, G. fink; cf. W. pinc a finch; also E. spink.].

 A small singing bird of many genera and species, belonging to the family Fringillidæ.  [1913 Webster]
" The word is often used in composition, as in chaffinch, goldfinch, grassfinch, pinefinch, etc."  [1913 Webster]

Bramble finch. See Brambling. -- Canary finch, the canary bird. -- Copper finch. See Chaffinch. -- Diamond finch. See under Diamond. -- Finch falcon (Zoöl.), one of several very small East Indian falcons of the genus Hierax. -- To pull a finch, to swindle an ignorant or unsuspecting person. [Obs.] “Privily a finch eke could he pull.” Chaucer.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

finch, n. any small seed-eating passerine bird of the family Fringillidae (esp. one of the genus Fringilla), including crossbills, canaries, and chaffinches.

Etymology

OE finc f. WG

ROGET THESAURUS

finch

Animal

N animal, animal kingdom, fauna, brute creation, beast, brute, creature, critter, wight, created being, creeping thing, living thing, dumb animal, dumb creature, zoophyte, mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe, microbe, animalcule, alligator, crocodile, saurian, dinosaur (extinct), snake, serpent, viper, eft, asp, aspick, frog, toad, trout, bass, tuna, muskelunge, sailfish, sardine, mackerel, ant, mosquito, bee, honeybee, tardigrade, spider, biped, quadruped, webfoot, flocks and herds, live stock, domestic animals, wild animals, game, ferae naturae, beasts of the field, fowls of the air, denizens of the sea, black game, black grouse, blackcock, duck, grouse, plover, rail, snipe, horse, cattle, kine, ox, bull, bullock, cow, milch cow, calf, heifer, shorthorn, sheep, lamb, lambkin, ewe, ram, tup, pig, swine, boar, hog, sow, steer, stot, tag, teg, bison, buffalo, yak, zebu, dog, cat, dog, hound, pup, puppy, whelp, cur, mongrel, house dog, watch dog, sheep dog, shepherd's dog, sporting dog, fancy dog, lap dog, toy dog, bull dog, badger dog, mastiff, blood hound, grey hound, stag hound, deer hound, fox hound, otter hound, harrier, beagle, spaniel, pointer, setter, retriever, Newfoundland, water dog, water spaniel, pug, poodle, turnspit, terrier, fox terrier, Skye terrier, Dandie Dinmont, collie, feline, puss, pussy, grimalkin, gib cat, tom cat, fox, Reynard, vixen, stag, deer, hart, buck, doe, roe, caribou, coyote, elk, moose, musk ox, sambar, bird, poultry, fowl, cock, hen, chicken, chanticleer, partlet, rooster, dunghill cock, barn door fowl, feathered tribes, feathered songster, singing bird, dicky bird, canary, warbler, finch, aberdevine, cushat, cygnet, ringdove, siskin, swan, wood pigeon, vermin, varmint, pest, animal, zoological equine, bovine, vaccine, canine, feline, fishy, piscatory, piscatorial, molluscous, vermicular, gallinaceous, rasorial, solidungulate, soliped.