Word Meanings - KINGFISHER - Book Publishers vocabulary database

Any one of numerous species of birds constituting the family Alcedinidæ. Most of them feed upon fishes which they capture by diving and seizing then with the beak; others feed only upon reptiles, insects, etc. About one hundred and fifty species

Additional info about word: KINGFISHER

Any one of numerous species of birds constituting the family Alcedinidæ. Most of them feed upon fishes which they capture by diving and seizing then with the beak; others feed only upon reptiles, insects, etc. About one hundred and fifty species are known. They are found in nearly all parts of the world, but are particularly abundant in the East Indies. Note: The belted king-fisher of the United States feeds upon fishes. It is slate-blue above, with a white belly and breast, and a broad white ring around the neck. A dark band crosses the breast. The common European species , which is much smaller and brighter colored, is also a fisher. See Alcedo. The wood kingfishers , which inhabit forests, especially in Africa, feed largely upon insects, but also eat reptiles, snails, and small Crustacea, as well as fishes. The giant kingfisher of Australia feeds largely upon lizards and insects. See Laughing jackass, under Laughing.

Related words: (words related to KINGFISHER)

• DIVERSIFORM
  Of a different form; of varied forms.
• DIVEDAPPER
  A water fowl; the didapper. See Dabchick.
• DIVORCEABLE
  Capable of being divorced.
• DIVESTITURE
  The act of stripping, or depriving; the state of being divested; the deprivation, or surrender, of possession of property, rights, etc.
• DIVERS
  directions, different, p. p. of divertere. See Divert, and cf. 1. Different in kind or species; diverse. Every sect of them hath a divers posture. Bacon. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds. Deut. xxii. 9. 2. Several; sundry; various;
• DIVESTMENT
  The act of divesting.
• DIVIDER
  An instrument for dividing lines, describing circles, etc., compasses. See Compasses. Note: The word dividers is usually applied to the instrument as made for the use of draughtsmen, etc.; compasses to the coarser instrument used by carpenters.
• DIVIDEND
  A number or quantity which is to be divided. (more info) 1. A sum of money to be divided and distributed; the share of a sum divided that falls to each individual; a distribute sum, share, or percentage; -- applied to the profits as appropriated
• ABOUT
  On the point or verge of; going; in act of. Paul was now aboutto open his mouth. Acts xviii. 14. 7. Concerning; with regard to; on account of; touching. "To treat about thy ransom." Milton. She must have her way about Sarah. Trollope. (more info)
• CONSTITUTIONALIST
  One who advocates a constitutional form of government; a constitutionalist.
• DIVISIONARY
  Divisional.
• DIVERSILOQUENT
  Speaking in different ways.
• FAMILY
  A groupe of organisms, either animal or vegetable, related by certain points of resemblance in structure or development, more comprehensive than a genus, because it is usually based on fewer or less pronounced points of likeness. In zoölogy
• DIVISIONALLY
  So as to be divisional.
• DIVININGLY
  In a divining manner.
• DIVISIBILITY
  The quality of being divisible; the property of bodies by which their parts are capable of separation. Divisibility . . . is a primary attribute of matter. Sir W. Hamilton.
• DIVINIZE
  To invest with a divine character; to deify. M. Arnold. Man had divinized all those objects of awe. Milman.
• CONSTITUTION
  1. The act or process of constituting; the action of enacting, establishing, or appointing; enactment; establishment; formation. 2. The state of being; that form of being, or structure and connection of parts, which constitutes and characterizes
• DIVARICATELY
  With divarication.
• DIVARICATOR
  One of the muscles which open the shell of brachiopods; a cardinal muscle. See Illust. of Brachiopoda.
• INDIVISIBLY
  In an indivisible manner.
• SUBINDIVIDUAL
  A division of that which is individual. An individual can not branch itself into subindividuals. Milton.
• INDIVISIBLE
  Not capable of exact division, as one quantity by another; incommensurable. (more info) 1. Not divisible; incapable of being divided, separated, or broken; not separable into parts. "One indivisible point of time." Dryden.
• INNUMEROUS
  Innumerable. Milton.
• POST-DISSEIZOR
  A person who disseizes another of lands which the disseizee had before recovered of the same disseizor. Blackstone.
• ROUNDABOUTNESS
  The quality of being roundabout; circuitousness.
• MISDIVISION
  Wrong division.
• INDIVISIBILITY
  The state or property of being indivisible or inseparable; inseparability. Locke.
• INDIVIDUALIZER
  One who individualizes.