Word.ws English Dictionary

a little bird told me

Syllables: a lit·tle bird told meUK/ə ˌlɪtl̩ bɜːd ˈtəʊld miː/US/ə ˌlɪt(ə)l bɜɹd ˈtoʊld mi/

a little bird told me phrase: i received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose.

Phrase

a little bird told me

  1. (humorous, idiomatic) I received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose.
    • Let’s just say I know because a little bird told me.
    • […] I did lately heere, / How fleck and his make use their secret haunting, / By one byrd, that in myne eare was late chaunting.[1546, John Heywood, chapter V, in Julian Sharman, editor, The Proverbs of John Heywood. […], London: George Bell and Sons, […], published 1874, →OCLC, part II, page 121

a little bird told me meaning in Arabic

a little bird told me in Arabic

I received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose
أَخْبَرَتْنِي العُصْفُورة ʔaḵbaratnī l-ʕuṣfūra

Examples of a little bird told me in a sentence

  • VVell, vvell; I had a little bird told me all this—1780, [Sophia] Lee, The Chapter of Accidents: A Comedy, […], London: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene [ii], page 45:
  • ‘Is Harry Fortescue in love with Florry Carlton?’ asked Lady Charity. ‘A little bird told me he was as good as engaged to her.’1872 July, [George Webbe Dasent], “Three to One: Or Some Passages out of the Life of Amicia Lady Sweetapple. Chapter XLVIII. Lady...
  • A little bird told me you were likely to be soon engaged—and to an earl's nephew […]2012, Anna Elliott, “Saturday 21 May 1814”, in Georgiana Darcy’s Diary: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Continued, [U.S.A.]: Wilton...

Synonyms of a little bird told me

Forms of a little bird told me

alternative forma little birdie told me

Origin of a little bird told me

The etymology is unknown; in English sources, references to birds passing along information to people date back to at least the 16th century (see the 1546 quotation), and in other languages even earlier. For example, Ecclesiastes 10:20 in the Bible, the original Hebrew version of which is dated to 450–180 B.C.E., states according to the King James Version (spelling modernized): “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought, and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

Questions about a little bird told me

What does a little bird told me mean?
A little bird told me means i received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose.
What is a little bird told me in Arabic?
A little bird told me in Arabic is أَخْبَرَتْنِي العُصْفُورة (ʔaḵbaratnī l-ʕuṣfūra). See A little bird told me meaning in Arabic.
How do you use a little bird told me in a sentence?
VVell, vvell; I had a little bird told me all this—
What part of speech is a little bird told me?
A little bird told me is a phrase.
How do you pronounce a little bird told me?
A little bird told me is pronounced /ə ˌlɪtl̩ bɜːd ˈtəʊld miː/ (UK).

Words near a little bird told me in the dictionary

  1. a lie can run around the world before the truth can get its boots on
  2. a lie has no legs
  3. A list
  4. A lists
  5. a little
  6. a little bird told me
  7. a little birdie told me
  8. a little bit
  9. a little bit of bread and no cheese
  10. a little from column A and a little from column B
  11. a little from column A, a little from column B

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: a little bird told me (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-a little bird told me.ogg.

Cite this entry: “a little bird told me.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/a_little_bird_told_me. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.