crossbill
/ˈkɹɒsbɪl/noun
crossbill is spelled C-R-O-S-S-B-I-L-L: 9 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crossbill means “Any of various finches of the genus Loxia, whose bill crosses over at the tips; they are specialist feeders on conifer cones” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crossbill is crossbills.
How many letters and syllables are in crossbill?
| Letters | 9: C-R-O-S-S-B-I-L-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 30 million words; the 165,739th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is crossbill?
Crossbill appears about once in every 30 million words in written English, the 165,739th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crossbill?
- /ˈkɹɒsbɪl/
Crossbill has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-crossbill.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of crossbill
- crossbills plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crossbill mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Any of various finches of the genus Loxia, whose bill crosses over at the tips; they are specialist feeders on conifer cones.
- 2
A bill brought by a defendant, in an equity or chancery suit, against the plaintiff, respecting the matter in question in that suit.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crossbill in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense finch of the genus Loxia:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bec-croisé |
| German | Kreuzschnabel, Zweibindiger Kreuzschnabel |
| Portuguese | cruza-bico |
| Spanish | piquituerto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crossbill come from?
From cross + bill.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).