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egret
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
egret
noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Among the feathered residents are flamingos, toucans, kookaburras, egrets, brown pelicans, hornbills and trumpeter swans.
▪ As migratory fowl, the egrets are protected by federal law during the April to September nesting season.
▪ But a srnall gator sunned himself on a bank, an egret leaned forward knee-deep in the standing pool.
▪ But the young fish still suffer and stocks are dwindling, so that fish-eating birds such as the reef egret are decreasing in numbers.
▪ Herons, egrets and ibises all nest here.
▪ On the walls are framed prints of herons and egrets in cypress swamps and watery glades.
▪ Only the egrets, spoonbill, and least tern, however, faced actual extinction before help arrived.
▪ White egrets sit in a green tree.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Egret

Egret \E"gret\, n. [See Aigret, Heron.]

  1. (Zo["o]l.) The name of several species of herons which bear plumes on the back. They are generally white. Among the best known species are the American egret ( Ardea egretta syn. Herodias egretta); the great egret ( Ardea alba); the little egret ( Ardea garzetta), of Europe; and the American snowy egret ( Ardea candidissima).

    A bunch of egrets killed for their plumage.
    --G. W. Cable.

  2. A plume or tuft of feathers worn as a part of a headdress, or anything imitating such an ornament; an aigrette.

  3. (Bot.) The flying feathery or hairy crown of seeds or achenes, as the down of the thistle.

  4. (Zo["o]l.) A kind of ape.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
egret

mid-14c., from Old French aigrette, from Old Provençal aigreta, diminutive of aigron "heron," perhaps of Germanic origin (compare Old High German heigaro; see heron).

Wiktionary
egret

n. 1 Any of various wading birds of the genera ''Egretta'' or ''Ardea'' that includes herons, many of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes during the breeding season. 2 A plume or tuft of feathers worn as a part of a headdress, or anything imitating such an ornament; an aigrette. 3 (context botany English) The flying feathery or hairy crown of seeds or achenes, such as the down of the thistle. 4 (context obsolete English) The crab-eating macaque (''Macaca fascicularis'')

WordNet
egret

n. any of various usually white herons having long plumes during breeding season

Wikipedia
Egret

An egret is a bird that is any of several herons, most of which are white or buff, and several of which develop fine plumes (usually milky white) during the breeding season.

Usage examples of "egret".

An egret perched on a nearby limb swooped down and caught the Bluegill before it even hit the water and took off for its nest, she supposed, where he and the egret-wife and birdlets would share a tasty dinner.

A moment later there was another short, respectful knock on the door, and Chang led in two Egrets dragging Deadhead between them.

At the eastern end of the island, the mass of birds, Louisiana herons, pelicans, avocets, sandpipers, egrets, flamingoes and the few roseate spoonbills, went on with building, their nests or fished in the shallow waters of the lake.

At the farthest tip, near Cape Sable, the sky flashed with wild birds: herons, curlews, ibises, blue egrets, white pelicans, sandpipers and a few roseate spoonbills.

The terns, the sandpipers, gulls, shearwaters, egrets, and curlews seemed to have vanished.

An egret perched on a nearby limb swooped down and caught the Bluegill before it even hit the water and took off for its nest, she supposed, where he and the egret-wife and birdlets would share a tasty dinner.

We was making a fair living, salted fish, cut buttonwood, took plumes in egret breeding season, took some gator hides, some otter, done some trading with the Indins, and eased on by.

Ray gestured to take in the water, the bobbing floats, the tall, glossily wet eelgrass on the verge where a lone egret stood like a marble pillar.

Disturbed, a pair of sleeping egrets eyed them owlishly, irritated at the nocturnal interruption.

At the farthest tip, near Cape Sable, the sky flashed with wild birds: herons, curlews, ibises, blue egrets, white pelicans, sandpipers and a few roseate spoonbills.

And all the while we done fishing, too, sold some salt fish, took turtle eggs in season, shot gators and egrets when they was handy.

Along the green shores, flocks of gulls and egrets and ibises drifted like snowflakes, and pelicans skimmed over the water.

He has explored by canoe and found egrets, herons, ospreys, even an eagle.

Countless numbers of birds, herons and egrets standing in the shallow water, reed birds, woodpeckers, ground doves, sparrows, kites.

He dropped the shirt and clutched wildly at the coamings of the turret, the shirt floating away like a white egret on the wing.