Other forms: hummingbirds
A hummingbird is a tiny bird whose wings beat too fast to see. A hovering hummingbird, feed the hummingbirds, a hummingbird's nest.
It is the only bird that can fly backwards, and the wings beat up to eighty times a second, which is what makes the hum. Its heart rate reaches over a thousand beats a minute, and it must eat almost constantly or starve within hours.
1nounhummingbirdA tiny bird whose wings beat too fast to see.
“A hummingbird hovered in front of the flower, drinking its nectar.”
hummingbird is a bird.
Humming plus bird, for the sound the wings make. The name is American and dates from the seventeenth century.
From humming + bird, in reference to the humming sound made by the rapidly moving wings.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA