phoebe

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Related to phoebes: eastern phoebes

Phoe·be

(fē′bē)

1. Greek Mythology The goddess Artemis.

2. A satellite of Saturn.

3. The moon personified.

[Middle English phebe, from Latin Phoebē, from Greek Phoibē, from feminine of phoibos, shining.]

phoe·be

(fē′bē)

Any of several insectivorous songbirds of the genus Sayornis of the Americas, noted for the flicking motion of the tail.

[Imitative of its song (influenced by the name Phoebe).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

phoebe

(ˈfiːbɪ)

(Animals) any of several greyish-brown North American flycatchers of the genus Sayornis, such as S. phoebe (eastern phoebe)

[C19: imitative of the bird's call]

Phoebe

(ˈfiːbɪ) or

Phebe

1. (Classical Myth & Legend) classical myth a Titaness, who later became identified with Artemis (Diana) as goddess of the moon

2. poetic a personification of the moon

Phoebe

(ˈfiːbɪ)

(Celestial Objects) the outermost satellite of the planet Saturn. It has retrograde motion and a dark surface

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

phoe•be

(ˈfi bi)

n., pl. -bes.

any of several New World flycatchers of the genus Sayornis, esp. S. phoebe, of E North America.

[1690–1700, Amer.; imitative; sp. copies Phoebe]

Phoe•be

(ˈfi bi)

n.

1. a Titan, later identified with Artemis and the Roman goddess Diana.

2. the moon personified.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	Phoebe - the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one 5, cinque, fin, five, fivesome, Little Phoebe, pentad, quint, quintuplet, quintet, V digit, figure - one of the elements that collectively form a system of numeration; "0 and 1 are digits"
	2.	Phoebe - (Greek mythology) a Titaness who became identified with Artemis as goddess of the Moon Greek mythology - the mythology of the ancient Greeks
	3.	phoebe - small dun-colored North American flycatcher phoebe bird, Sayornis phoebe New World flycatcher, tyrant bird, tyrant flycatcher, flycatcher - large American birds that characteristically catch insects on the wing genus Sayornis, Sayornis - phoebes

References in classic literature ?

Phoebe and her mistress were staying at a place near Edinburgh, called (I think) Gleninch.

She went to the dinner in the carriage from Gleninch, having sent Phoebe to Edinburgh before her.

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Phoebe, it must be understood, was that one little offshoot of the Pyncheon race to whom we have already referred, as a native of a rural part of New England, where the old fashions and feelings of relationship are still partially kept up.

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"See, Nelly, see!" exclaimed half a dozen eager voices; "yonder ar' men; and Phoebe says that they ar' Sioux-Indians!"

"Phoebe, do you fire," and "no, Hetty, you," were beginning to be heard between the half-frightened and yet eager daughters of the squatter, when Ellen probably saved the advancing stranger from some imminent alarm, if from no greater danger, by exclaiming--

The sudden appearance of the figure from the tent had created a momentary stupor among the defendants of the rock, which might, with suitable forbearance, have been happily improved; but startled by the voice of Middleton, the surprised Phoebe discharged her musket at the female, scarcely knowing whether she aimed at the life of a mortal or at some being which belonged to another world.

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Influenced by these representations, the British government ordered the frigate Phoebe to be detached as a convoy for the armed ship, Isaac Todd, which was ready to sail with men and munitions for forming a new establishment.

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They drank to the earth and to her satellite, to the Gun Club, the Union, the Moon, Diana, Phoebe, Selene, the "peaceful courier of the night!" All the hurrahs, carried upward upon the sonorous waves of the immense acoustic tube, arrived with the sound of thunder at its mouth; and the multitude ranged round Stones Hill heartily united their shouts with those of the ten revelers hidden from view at the bottom of the gigantic Columbiad.

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I think that quite the most touching sight in the Gardens is the two tombstones of Walter Stephen Matthews and Phoebe Phelps.

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But afterwards she lay with Heaven and bare deep-swirling Oceanus, Coeus and Crius and Hyperion and Iapetus, Theia and Rhea, Themis and Mnemosyne and gold-crowned Phoebe and lovely Tethys.

404-452) Again, Phoebe came to the desired embrace of Coeus.

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But little Phoebe Hoyle dreams that one day she will be able to walk just like her friends.