From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishegrete‧gret /ˈiːɡrət, -et/ noun [countable] HBBa bird that lives near water and has long legs and long white tail feathers
Examples from the Corpus
egret• But a srnall gator sunned himself on a bank, an egret leaned forward knee-deep in the standing pool.• On the walls are framed prints of herons and egrets in cypress swamps and watery glades.• Herons, egrets and ibises all nest here.• Among the feathered residents are flamingos, toucans, kookaburras, egrets, brown pelicans, hornbills and trumpeter swans.• But the young fish still suffer and stocks are dwindling, so that fish-eating birds such as the reef egret are decreasing in numbers.• As migratory fowl, the egrets are protected by federal law during the April to September nesting season.• Only the egrets, spoonbill, and least tern, however, faced actual extinction before help arrived.• White egrets sit in a green tree.Origin egret (1300-1400) Anglo-French aigrette 