hummingbird

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun tiny American bird having brilliant iridescent plumage and long slender bills; wings are specialized for vibrating flight

From humming (noun) + bird, in reference to the humming sound made by the rapidly moving wings.

Teta Elzbieta is all in a flutter, like a hummingbird; her sisters, too, keep running up behind her, whispering, breathless. — The Jungle, Upton Sinclair
Here and there around her, in the leaves or on the ground, trembled luminous patches, as if hummingbirds flying about had scattered their feathers. — Madame Bovary, Gustave Flaubert
She was light as a feather, but the thorns are a veritable net to catch hummingbirds, and then, again, the storm about to break! — The Treasure of Pearls: A Romance of Adventures in California, Gustave Aimard

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