Definitions for shrikes

• Definition
• Anagrams (131)

shrikes shrike

Spelling: [shrahyk]

IPA: /ʃraɪk/

Shrikes is a 7 letter English word. It's valid Scrabble word worth 13 points. It's valid Words with friends word worth 12 points.

You can make 131 anagrams from letters in shrikes (ehikrss).

Definitions for shrikes

noun

1. any of numerous predaceous oscine birds of the family Laniidae, having a strong, hooked, and toothed bill, feeding on insects and sometimes on small birds and other animals: the members of certain species impale their prey on thorns or suspend it from the branches of trees to tear it apart more easily, and are said to kill more than is necessary for them to eat.
2. any of several other birds having similar bills, as the vanga shrikes.
3. (initial capital letter) Military. a 10-foot (3-meter), 400-pound (180-kg) U.S. air-to-ground missile designed to destroy missile batteries by homing in on their radar emissions.

Origin of shrikes

1535-45; perhaps continuing Old English scrīc thrush; akin to Old Norse skrīkja to twitter; see shriek

Examples for shrikes

The shrike is said to catch mice, but it is not known to attack squirrels.

I doubt if the shrike could have killed him, but it certainly gave him a good fright.

The shrike did not see him till the owl was almost within the branches.

It was the shrike, who thought he was sure of a dinner when he saw those canaries.

The shrike had probably come to town to try his luck with English sparrows.

It is unusual to see a shrike at as high an elevation as 6000 feet.

Goldfinch, American (Astragalinus tristis), a shrike in a flock of.

But the shrike pleaded his innocence, and I had no proof against him.

The shrike is a citizen of the world, being found in both hemispheres.

Their habits, however, differ but little from those of the true shrike.