1.
[syn: Hero, Heron, Hero of Alexandria]
2. grey or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and (usually) long bill;
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Heron \Her"on\, n. [OE. heiroun, heroun, heron, hern, OF.
hairon, F. h['e]ron, OHG. heigir; cf. Icel. hegri, Dan.
heire, Sw. h[aum]ger, and also G. h[aum]her jay, jackdaw,
OHG. hehara, higere, woodpecker, magpie, D. reiger heron, G.
reiher, AS. hr[=a]gra. Cf. Aigret, Egret.] (Zool.)
Any wading bird of the genus Ardea and allied genera, of
the family Ardeid[ae]. The herons have a long, sharp bill,
and long legs and toes, with the claw of the middle toe
toothed. The common European heron (Ardea cinerea) is
remarkable for its directly ascending flight, and was
formerly hunted with the larger falcons.
[1913 Webster]
Note: There are several common American species; as, the
great blue heron (Ardea herodias); the little blue
(Ardea c[oe]rulea); the green (Ardea virescens);
the snowy (Ardea candidissima); the night heron or
qua-bird (Nycticorax nycticorax). The plumed herons
are called egrets.
[1913 Webster]
Heron's bill (Bot.), a plant of the genus Erodium; -- so
called from the fancied resemblance of the fruit to the
head and beak of the heron.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
Heron
n 1: Greek mathematician and inventor who devised a way to
determine the area of a triangle and who described various
mechanical devices (first century) [syn: Hero, Heron,
Hero of Alexandria]
2: grey or white wading bird with long neck and long legs and
(usually) long bill
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary:
Heron
(Lev. 11:19; Deut. 14:18), ranked among the unclean birds. The
Hebrew name is _'anaphah_, and indicates that the bird so named
is remarkable for its angry disposition. "The herons are
wading-birds, peculiarly irritable, remarkable for their
voracity, frequenting marshes and oozy rivers, and spread over
the regions of the East." The Ardea russeta, or little golden
egret, is the commonest species in Asia.
U.S. Gazetteer Places (2000):
Heron, MT -- U.S. Census Designated Place in Montana
Population (2000): 149
Housing Units (2000): 63
Land area (2000): 3.392157 sq. miles (8.785645 sq. km)
Water area (2000): 0.000000 sq. miles (0.000000 sq. km)
Total area (2000): 3.392157 sq. miles (8.785645 sq. km)
FIPS code: 35875
Located within: Montana (MT), FIPS 30
Location: 48.057437 N, 115.960373 W
ZIP Codes (1990): 59844
Note: some ZIP codes may be omitted esp. for suburbs.
Headwords:
Heron, MT
Heron