heron

¹ American

[her-uhn] / ˈhɛr ən /

noun

any of numerous long-legged, long-necked, usually long-billed birds of the family Ardeidae, including the true herons, egrets, night herons, and bitterns.

Heron ² American

[heer-on] / ˈhɪər ɒn /

noun

Hero.

Heron ¹ British

/ ˈhɪərɒn /

noun

same as Hero
Patrick. 1920–99, British abstract painter and art critic

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

heron ² British

/ ˈhɛrən /

noun

any of various wading birds of the genera Butorides, Ardea, etc, having a long neck, slim body, and a plumage that is commonly grey or white: family Ardeidae, order Ciconiiformes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of heron

1275–1325; Middle English heiro ( u ) n, hero ( u ) n < Middle French hairon ( French héron ) < Germanic; compare Old High German heigir

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Researchers dug up fossils that belonged to the Spinosaurus mirabilis -- or "hell heron", in the words of Paul Sereno, the University of Chicago palaeontologist and lead author of the research published in the journal Science.

From Barron's

Just then a great blue heron flew overhead.

From The Wall Street Journal

More than a hundred bird species, including ducks, geese, terns, ibis, herons, eagles and vultures, had been recorded in the area, alongside monkeys and small mammals.

From Barron's

Moorhens, ducks, and herons were walking, flapping, swimming, some trailed by their young.

From Literature

I never had a better feeling in my life—as if I was a mighty blue heron spreading my wings.

From Literature

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023