ˈhoneyˌsucker
An animal that feeds on honey; spec. applied to numerous small birds that feed on honey and the nectar of flowers, esp. the Meliphagidæ, also the Nectariniidæ, Cœrebidæ, etc.; a nectar-bird; a honey-eater.
| 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) VI. 2034 There are four species that seem to belong to the trochili, or honey-suckers of Linnæus. 1837 Swainson Birds II. 144 The Meliphagidæ, or honeysuckers, are distinguished..by their notched bill. 1883 G. Allen in Longm. Mag. July 308 Butterflies..sail further up mountain heights than the bees and other meadow honeysuckers. |