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nut·hatch

(nŭthăch′)

Any of several small, short-tailed birds of the genus Sitta found in temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, having a long sharp bill and known for climbing down trees headfirst.

[Middle English notehache : note, nut; see NUT + hache, hatchet (from Old French, perhaps of Germanic origin, from its habit of wedging nuts in bark and hacking them open).]

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nuthatch

white-breasted nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

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The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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