Crossword clues for crossbill
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Crossbill \Cross"bill`\ (-b[i^]l`). (Law)
A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit,
against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in
that suit.
--Bouvier.
Note: In criminal practice, cross bills of indictment for assault, in which the prosecutor in once case is the defendant in another, may be tried together.
Crossbill \Cross"bill`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A bird of the genus Loxia, allied to the finches. Their mandibles are strongly curved and cross each other; the crossbeak.
Wiktionary
n. 1 Any of various finches of the genus ''Loxia'', whose bill crosses over at the tips; they are specialist feeders on conifer cones. 2 (context legal English) A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit.
WordNet
n. finch with a bill whose tips cross when closed [syn: Loxia curvirostra]
Wikipedia
The crossbill is a genus, Loxia, of birds in the finch family ( Fringillidae), with three to five (or possibly many more) species. These birds are characterised by the mandibles with crossed tips, which gives the group its English name. Adult males tend to be red or orange in colour, and females green or yellow, but there is much variation.
Crossbills are specialist feeders on conifer cones, and the unusual bill shape is an adaptation which enables them to extract seeds from cones. These birds are typically found in higher northern hemisphere latitudes, where their food sources grow. They erupt out of the breeding range when the cone crop fails. Crossbills breed very early in the year, often in winter months, to take advantage of maximum cone supplies.
Usage examples of "crossbill".
A flock of crossbills went whistling overhead, coming from the same direction.
She looked up for the cry of a jay, for the sheer of its blue arc down the length of the fence and then back to lark bunting, red crossbill, northern shrike, lesser yellowlegs fluttering by on the pages of the bird book opened on her lap while here, in the branches of the mulberry tree above her, nothing moved but a squirrel's mindless leap for the roof of the house and she sat back, her stained face raised bared for the sun gone now even from the top of the maple, gone this abruptly behind the mountain with not even a cloud in what sky these trees allowed to trace its loss leaving only a chill that trembled the length of her .
She looked up for the cry of a jay, for the sheer of its blue arc down the length of the fence and then back to lark bunting, red crossbill, northern shrike, lesser yellowlegs fluttering by on the pages of the bird book opened on her lap while here, in the branches of the mulberry tree above her, nothing moved but a squirrel's mindless leap for the roof of the house and she sat back, her stained face raised bared for the sun gone now even from the top of the maple, gone this abruptly behind the mountain with not even a cloud in what sky these trees allowed to trace its loss leaving only a chill that trembled the length of her, sent her back in where .