merle


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merle 1

also merl  (mûrl)
n.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin merulus, merula.]

merle 2

 (mûrl)
adj.
Having a coat with irregular streaks or speckles of a contrasting color. Used of certain dogs.
n.
A dog with a merle coat.

[Perhaps from merle.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

merle

(mɜːl; Scottish mɛrl) or

merl

n
(Animals) Scot another name for the (European) blackbird
[C15: via Old French from Latin merula]

merle

(mɜːl)
adj
(Animals) (of a dog, esp a collie) having a bluish-grey coat with speckles or streaks of black. Often called: blue merle
[C20: from dialect mirlet, mirly speckled]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

black•bird

(ˈblækˌbɜrd)
n.
1. any of several birds of the New World subfamily Icterinae (family Emberizidae) having shiny black or mostly black plumage, as the red-winged blackbird.
2. a common European thrush, Turdus merula, the male of which is black with a yellow bill.
3. a Kanaka who was kidnapped and sold as a slave in Australia.
v.i.
4. to kidnap Kanakas and sell them into slavery.
[1480–90]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.merle - common black European thrushmerle - common black European thrush  
thrush - songbirds characteristically having brownish upper plumage with a spotted breast
genus Turdus, Turdus - type genus of the Turdidae
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
References in classic literature ?
The parties to this undertaking were John Holcomb, an apothecary; Wilson Merle, a lawyer, and Andrus C.
Holcomb and Merle at the "haunted house" a new snow had fallen to a depth of several inches upon the old.
"My Gawd!" protested Miss Merle Merryweather, the Accordion Girl, who looked like sixteen on the stage, but who, in private life among her grand-children, acknowledged forty-eight.
"The rats are bad enough," said Miss Merle Merryweather.
And, as Miss Merle Merryweather said: the bonehead audiences, tickled to death, applauded Duckworth's Trained Cats and Rats as an educational act!
Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Eliana Merle last night initiated coverage of Arvinas with an Overweight rating and $42 price target.
Merle Howells, 32, joins the business as part of Yolk's growth strategy.
"I had fallen in love with the merle pattern some time beforehand, and started looking into it.
At least this much is true for Merle Paete of Sorsogon province, who was named National Winner in the 2017 Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards.
Singer/songwriter and manager Merle Kilgore could have told you.