Meanings
nouncrossbill (plural crossbills)
plural crossbills
- Any of various finches of the genus Loxia, whose bill crosses over at the tips; they are specialist feeders on conifer cones.
- lawA bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit.
he not having the money ready[…] filed a bill for a specific performance, evidently to gain time. The vendors filed a crossbill; and afterwards the purchaser became a bankrupt
1836, Edward Burtenshaw Sugden, A Practical Treatise of the Law of Vendors and Purchasers of Estates
Synonyms & antonyms
Narrower
common crossbillLoxia curvirostraHispaniolan crossbillLoxia megaplagaparrot crossbillLoxia pytyopsittacusred crossbillScottish crossbillLoxia scoticaCassia crossbillLoxia sinesciuristwo-barred crossbillLoxia leucoptera bifasciataLoxia leucopterawhite-winged crossbillLoxia leucoptera leucoptera
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Bulgarian кръсточовка
- кръсточовка (krăstočovka)finch of the genus Loxia
Czech křivka
- křivkafinch of the genus Loxia
Danish korsnæb
- korsnæbfinch of the genus Loxia
Dutch kruisbek
- kruisbekfinch of the genus Loxia
Esperanto loksio, krucbekulo
- loksiofinch of the genus Loxia
- krucbekulofinch of the genus Loxia
Finnish käpylintu
- käpylintufinch of the genus Loxia
French bec-croisé
- bec-croiséfinch of the genus Loxia
German Kreuzschnabel, Zweibindiger Kreuzschnabel
- Kreuzschnabelfinch of the genus Loxia
- Zweibindiger Kreuzschnabelfinch of the genus Loxia
Hungarian keresztcsőrű
- keresztcsőrűfinch of the genus Loxia
Icelandic krossnefur
- krossnefurfinch of the genus Loxia
Italian crociere
- crocierefinch of the genus Loxia
Latin loxia
- loxiafinch of the genus Loxia
Polish krzyżodziób
- krzyżodzióbfinch of the genus Loxia
Portuguese cruza-bico
- cruza-bicofinch of the genus Loxia
Romanian forfecuță, forfecuță galbenă
- forfecuțăfinch of the genus Loxia
- forfecuță galbenăfinch of the genus Loxia
- pasăre-cu-cioc-încrucișatfinch of the genus Loxia
Russian клёст
- клёст (kljost)finch of the genus Loxia
Spanish piquituerto
- piquituertofinch of the genus Loxia
Cite this entry
APA
crossbill. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crossbill
MLA
“crossbill.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crossbill. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crossbill,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crossbill.
Source: crossbill on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.