a mockingbird

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable

   A gray or brown American songbird that copies the songs of other birds and often sings at night.

   Grammar: Countable, so you can say a mockingbird, the mockingbird, or mockingbirds for the type in general.

   Patterns

   • a mockingbird sings
   • hear a mockingbird
   • a mockingbird's song

   A mockingbird sat on the fence and ran through six different calls in a minute.

   We heard a mockingbird singing outside the window long after midnight.

   In the southern states, a mockingbird often nests in garden hedges.

2. 2nouncountableliteraryfigurative

   A symbol of innocence that is harmed by evil, from the novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

   Grammar: Used with this literary meaning it still takes an or the, and readers usually understand the reference without further explanation.

   Patterns

   • kill a mockingbird
   • like killing a mockingbird

   The lawyer argued that destroying the boy's trust was like killing a mockingbird.

   In class we discussed what the mockingbird stands for in the novel.

Word forms

Common combinations

a mockingbird's song

The mockingbird's song woke me before sunrise.

hear a mockingbird

You can often hear a mockingbird in the park at dusk.

a gray mockingbird

A gray mockingbird perched on the telephone wire.

mimic like a mockingbird

He can mimic like a mockingbird and copy any accent.

the northern mockingbird

The northern mockingbird is the state bird of several US states.

Synonyms and how they differ

mimic

Use mimic for a person or bird that copies sounds or actions; a mockingbird is the specific bird, while mimic is the general word.

songbird

Songbird is the broad category of birds that sing; a mockingbird is one particular kind of songbird.

Word family

mockingbird noun

The bird itself; the form without an is used when naming the species or the novel.

mock verb

To copy someone in an unkind way in order to make fun of them.

Commonly confused: a mockingbird or mocking bird?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “a mockingbird”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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