English

A British Rail Class 57 Thunderbird locomotive

Noun

Thunderbird ‎(plural Thunderbirds)

1. Alternative letter-case form of thunderbird
2. (Britain, railway) a locomotive stored at a strategic point on the network so as to be available to quickly rescue a failed train.

English

Noun

thunderbird ‎(plural thunderbirds)

1. (mythology) A mythological bird, often associated with stormy weather, especially in various indigenous North American mythologies.
   • 1999, Andrew George, translating Gilgamesh, VII:

     A man there was, grim his expression, just like a Thunderbird his features were frightening.

2. An Australian insectivorous songbird (Pachycephala pectoralis, formerly Pachycephala gutturalis), whose male is conspicuously marked with black and yellow, and has a black crescent on the breast.

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