n. A very common oscine passerine bird of Europe, Pyrrhula vulgaris; a kind of finch of the family Fringillidæ, with a very short, stout, turgid bill, which, like the crown, is black, and a body bluish above, and, in the male, tile-red below: a favorite cage-bird, easily taught to sing a variety of notes.n. In England, a strong fence, or a hedge allowed to grow high enough to impede hunters, and much used as a test of skill in steeplechasing.n. This name is applied locally to many very different birds, as the pine-grosbeak, Pinicola enueleator; the house-finch, Carpodacus mexicanus frontalis; the black-breasted plover, Charadrius squatarola; the goldeneye Glaucionetta clangula americana; etc.