Lexic.us

Definition of Bittern

1. Noun. Relatively small compact tawny-brown heron with nocturnal habits and a booming cry; found in marshes.

Definition of Bittern

1. n. A wading bird of the genus Botaurus, allied to the herons, of various species.

2. n. The brine which remains in salt works after the salt is concreted, having a bitter taste from the chloride of magnesium which it contains.

Definition of Bittern

1. Noun. Several bird species in the heron family ''Ardeidae''. ¹

2. Noun. One species tending to have a relatively short neck in comparison with the other members of the family. ¹

3. Noun. The liquor remaining after halite (common salt) has been harvested from saline water (brine). ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Bittern

1. a wading bird [n -S]

Medical Definition of Bittern

1. A wading bird of the genus Botaurus, allied to the herons, of various species. The common European bittern is Botaurus stellaris. It makes, during the brooding season, a noise called by Dryden bumping, and by Goldsmith booming. The American bittern is B. Lentiginosus, and is also called stake-driver and meadow hen. See Stake-driver. The name is applied to other related birds, as the least bittern (Ardetta exilis), and the sun bittern. Origin: OE. Bitoure, betore, bitter, fr. F. Butor; of unknown origin. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Bittern

Literary usage of Bittern

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Auk: Quarterly Journal of Ornithology by American Ornithologists' Union, Nuttall Ornithological Club (1895)
"Cory's Least bittern in Michigan. — A specimen of Cory's Least bittern ... rising in the ordinarily sluggish flight of the common Least bittern, ..."

2. The National Sports of Great Britain: Fifty Engravings with Descriptionsby Henry Thomas Alken by Henry Thomas Alken (1903)
"Both the Heron and bittern, in former days, were brought to table, ... The flesh of the bittern has no fishy taste, but is of a high flavour, ..."

3. The International Relations of the Chinese Empire by Hosea Ballou Morse (1918)
"APPENDIX F AN ACCOUNT OF OPERATIONS BY HMS "bittern" AGAINST A PIRATICAL FLEET IN 1855 SIR ROBERT HART died on September 20th, 1911, and was buried in the ..."

4. A History of British Birds by William Yarrell, Alfred Newton, Howard Saunders (1884)
"THE AMERICAN bittern is an accidental visitor which has occurred more than twenty times in the British Islands. The first instance on record is that of the ..."

5. A history of British birds by Francis Orpen Morris (1855)
"The bittern visits some parts of Russia, Siberia, and Denmark, and Scandinavia ... In Yorkshire the bittern has been met with a few times near Sheffield, ..."

6. The Birds of America by John James] [Audubon (1843)
"THE LEAST bittern. ... so as to reduce the passage to one inch, I tried the bittern again, and again it made its way between them without moving either. ..."

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