How to Use tern in a Sentence
tern
noun-
He’s seen dolphin push small fish from under the weeds to on top of the weeds, and the terns swoop down to eat the fish.
—Steve Waters, Sun-Sentinel.com, 25 May 2017
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Lighter, more buoyant flyers like terns, will stay with the storm longer.
—Taylor Piephoff, charlotteobserver, 22 Sep. 2017
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A tern — one of many seabirds common to the marshes the group was touring in Masonville Cove.
—Scott Dance, Washington Post, 1 July 2017
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Two black vultures and a fly-over Caspian tern were observed in the Blue Hills.
—BostonGlobe.com, 31 July 2021
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The terns and pelicans have gone to roost, and the dolphins no longer crisscross the water by the hundreds.
—Erik Vance, Scientific American, 22 Aug. 2017
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There were five Caspian terns at Bathing Beach in Hingham.
—BostonGlobe.com, 7 Oct. 2019
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Harsen’s Island is home to one of the state’s largest colonies of black terns – a species of special concern in Michigan.
—Michigan Wildlife Council, Detroit Free Press, 21 Aug. 2017
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Overhead, white fairy terns hover and peep among the coconut trees.
—James Shreeve, WIRED, 1 Aug. 2004
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At Cranes Beach in Ipswich, four black skimmers and a royal tern were seen.
—BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021
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Nearby a Herring gull chick sought shelter under the shade of a dead tern.
—Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 1 July 2022
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But some elegant terns — anchovy-loving seabirds that nest in large colonies — fly all the way down to Chile.
—Emily Anthes, New York Times, 29 Aug. 2023
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In the past, for instance, the Corps has built island habitats for terns, Dobroski said.
—Josh Snyder, Arkansas Online, 12 June 2023
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There are more birds now, common terns and healthier sea gulls.
—Amelia Nierenberg, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2019
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The island is a nesting site for rare species of petrels, shearwaters and terns.
—Evan Halper, latimes.com, 18 Sep. 2017
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Howard said that three or four sooty terns (seabirds) working a weedline is often a good sign of dolphin.
—Steve Waters, Sun-Sentinel.com, 25 May 2017
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By the way, black tern was number 124 on my Mecklenburg County Year List.
—Taylor Piephoff, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
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Overhead, white fairy terns hover and peep among coconut trees.
—Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 10 Dec. 2023
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South Coast: There was a little blue heron, a sandwich tern and a willow flycatcher in Fairhaven.
—BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021
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Along with the tern, the teachers saw the abundance of birds that have made Masonville a popular spot for birdwatchers.
—Scott Dance, Washington Post, 1 July 2017
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The tern is probably the most imperiled seabird in Alaska.
—WIRED, 26 Aug. 2023
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Smolts are picked off by birds like double crested cormorants and caspian terns.
—oregonlive, 27 Aug. 2023
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Since 2014 the black tern has been listed as an endangered species in Wisconsin.
—Paul A. Smith, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 19 May 2022
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The white tern, or Manu-o-Kū, is a rarity among them—a native seabird that is doing well in an urban setting.
—Melody Bentz, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 July 2021
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Observers spotted four Caspian terns at a park in Squantum.
—BostonGlobe.com, 14 Oct. 2019
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Arctic terns and Aleutian terns gather together on ocean spits to scratch out nest cups.
—Anchorage Daily News, 15 June 2019
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Things take a tern when ge takes a loan from a wealthy neighbor and his coerced into becoming a FBI informant on the man.
—Michael O'Connell, The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Mar. 2018
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Revere: Just off Point of Pines, there were good numbers of shorebirds, four Manx shearwaters, and a royal tern.
—BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2019
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This was utterly predictable, once the president was so eager to accept the terms before the terns were even spelled out.
—Fox News, 17 May 2018
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Whales spouted, dolphins broke the water, pelicans skimmed, terns dove, and sea lions spun all around me.
—Maria Finn, Longreads, 28 Aug. 2017
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There are three other species of terns that may occur here through September: Caspian, Forster’s and common.
—Taylor Piephoff, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'tern.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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