catbird

英 ['kætbɜːd] 美['kæt,bɝd]
  • n. 猫鹊(产于北美的一种鸣禽)

英英释义


1. any of various birds of the Australian region whose males build ornamented structures resembling bowers in order to attract females
2. North American songbird whose call resembles a cat's mewing

词组搭配


in the catbird seat

(N. Amer. informal)in a superior or advantageous position

(北美 非正式)处于优越(或有利)位置

实用场景例句


Even from the first, the words went wrong , the catbird pecked away the nightingale.
一开始字里行间就漏洞百出, 猫声鸟居然把夜莺啄得铩羽而归.

辞典例句

双语例句


1. If he had not been hurt, his team would be sitting in the catbird seat.
要是他没有受伤的话,他的球队会处于非常有利的地位。

来自柯林斯例句

2. Even from the first, the words went wrong , the catbird pecked away the nightingale.
一开始字里行间就漏洞百出, 猫声鸟居然把夜莺啄得铩羽而归.

来自辞典例句

英文词源


catbird (n.)
1731, common name for the North American thrush (Dumetella Carolinensis), so called from its warning cry, which resembles that of a cat; from cat (n.) + bird (n.1). Catbird seat is a 19c. Dixieism, popularized by Brooklyn Dodgers baseball announcer Red Barber and by author James Thurber (1942).
"She must be a Dodger fan," he had said. "Red Barber announces the Dodger games over the radio and he uses those expressions--picked 'em up down South." Joey had gone on to explain one or two. "Tearing up the pea patch" meant going on a rampage; "sitting in the catbird seat" means sitting pretty, like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him. [James Thurber, "The Catbird Seat," "The New Yorker," Nov. 14, 1942]