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1. (n.) shrike
any of various songbirds of the family Laniidae, mainly of the Old World, having a sharply hooked bill and feeding on large insects or small vertebrates: some species impale their prey on thorns or barbed wire.
Etymology: (1535–45; perh. continuing OE scrīc thrush)
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| Definition of 'shrike' |
Princeton's WordNet |
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1. (noun) shrike
any of numerous Old World birds having a strong hooked bill that feed on smaller animals
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| Definition of 'shrike' |
Webster Dictionary |
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1. (verb) shrike
any one of numerous species of oscinine birds of the family Laniidae, having a strong hooked bill, toothed at the tip. Most shrikes are insectivorous, but the common European gray shrike (Lanius excubitor), the great northern shrike (L. borealis), and several others, kill mice, small birds, etc., and often impale them on thorns, and are, on that account called also butcher birds. See under Butcher
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Definitions of shrike 
