hummingbird

IPA/ˈhʌmɪŋbɜːd/
KK[hˈʌmɪŋbˌɚd]IPA/ˈhʌmɪŋbɜːrd/

hummingbird — noun

  • hummingbirdsingular
  • hummingbirdsplural

1. a very small bird with bright, shiny feathers, a long thin beak, and wings that

1.名詞B1
釋義

a very small bird with bright, shiny feathers, a long thin beak, and wings that beat so fast they produce a soft buzzing sound; found mainly in warm parts of North and South America, where it feeds on the sweet liquid inside flowers by hovering in front of them without landing

例句

Camille watched a hummingbird hover outside her kitchen window, its wings a blur.

hover + outside + kitchen window — typical setting

Every spring, Tomás plants bright red flowers to attract hummingbirds to his garden.

attract hummingbirds + bright red flowers — typical collocation

同義詞
  • hummer

    informal, used mainly in US conversation or nature writing

文法句型

a/the hummingbird

hummingbirds (plural)

用法筆記

Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards. The word comes from the humming sound their wings make. In Taiwan, hummingbirds do not occur naturally and are mainly known through nature documentaries and pictures.

常見錯誤

A hummingbird is a kind of bee that makes a humming sound.
A hummingbird is a tiny bird, not an insect. The humming sound comes from its fast-beating wings.
💡learners sometimes confuse the name with an insect because of the 'humming' sound.