bunting
bunting Lexical Profile
bunting Game Scores & Validity
• noun
Lightweight cotton or woolen cloth used for making flags and festive decorations, or the collection of draped strings of pennants and flags themselves.
"The streets of the town were festooned with red, white, and blue bunting to celebrate Independence Day."
A small, seed-eating songbird of the family Emberizidae (in Eurasia) or Cardinalidae (in the Americas), typically characterized by a short, stout bill and native to varied habitats including brushlands and forests.
"The birdwatcher was thrilled to spot a vividly colored painted bunting perched on the wire fence."
North American A warm, hooded sleeping bag or heavily insulated outer garment designed to fully enclose an infant.
"She bundled the newborn into a fleece bunting before taking him out into the freezing winter air."
Word Nuance & Usage
The word 'bunting' functions as an uncountable mass noun when referring to decorative fabric, but acts as a countable noun when referring to the bird species or an infant's garment.
• Rhymes for bunting
Word Origin & Etymology
Of uncertain origin. The bird name dates to Middle English 'bunting', possibly acting as a diminutive. The fabric sense may derive from the 17th-century dialectal 'bunt' (to sift), as similar coarse cloth was historically used for sifting meal.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.