yellowhammer

noun — 3 senses

yellowhammer

noun

UK /ˈjɛl.əʊˌhæm.ə(ɹ)/ · US /ˈjɛl.oʊˌhæm.ɚ/

Etymology An alteration (influenced by hammer) of the earlier yelambre, yelamber, from Middle English *yelwambre, from yelwe (“yellow”) + *ambre (“yellowhammer”), from Old English amore, related to Old High German amaro (“yellowhammer”) (see modern German Ammer).

1

A passerine bird, Emberiza citrinella, of western Eurasia, which is mainly yellow in colour.

2

US The northern flicker, Colaptes auratus, a woodpecker with yellow underwings and undertail and often other yellowish underparts; one of its ways of feeding is to hammer on trees to find insects (adults and larvae) to eat.

3

A native or resident of the American state of Alabama.

Related terms
a little bit of bread and no cheese

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.