chiff-chaff
(ˈtʃɪftʃɑːf, -æ-)
Also 8 chiff-chaf, chif-chaf.
[Expressive of its note.]
1. A bird, also called Lesser Pettychaps (Phylloscopus rufus), of the family Sylviinæ or Warblers, closely akin to the Willow Wren or Willow Warbler, with which it is often confounded in dialectal nomenclature.
| c 1780 G. White Observ. (1876) I. 409 The smallest uncrested willow wren, or chiff-chaf..utters two sharp piercing notes. 1792 ― Lett. xi. To Marsham, The smallest willow-wren..called here the Chif-Chaf from its two loud sharp notes, is always the first spring bird of passage. 1860 Tristram Gt. Sahara vi. 100 Here are the winter-quarters of many of our familiar English birds: the chiffchaff, willow-wren, and white throat hop on every twig in the gardens. |
2. The note of the chiff-chaff, or sounds resembling this.
| 1908 Westm. Gaz. 21 Mar. 14/1 They..make their presence known by their cheery reiteration of ‘Chiff-chaff, chiff-chaff’. 1909 Daily Chron. 31 May 4/4 The sounds (quite important barks and chiff-chaffs and gurgles and bubbles) that make the emphasis of conversation. 1916 Westm. Gaz. 19 Mar. 14/2 His cheery, oft-repeated note, ‘Chiff-chaff, cheef, cheef, chaff’. |
Hence ˈchiff-chaff v., to utter this bird's note.
| 1884 J. Burroughs in Cent. Mag. Mar. 779/2 The little chiffchaff was chiffchaffing in the pine woods. |