thing with feathers

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Hope may be the thing with feathers, but this bunch of feathers is hopeless.

From Washington Post • Jul. 10, 2022

But in this sorest storm, in this chillest land, there’s hope, the thing with feathers.

From Slate • Aug. 25, 2021

Now it’s empathy that’s the thing with feathers.

From New York Times • Apr. 1, 2019

If hope is the thing with feathers, as poet Emily Dickinson said, then the Mariners haven’t been totally plucked bald after 10 games.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 19, 2017

Every time she says that, I nod and remember the words from one of my favorite Emily Dickinson poems: “‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers I That perches in the soul.”

From "Lucky Broken Girl" by Ruth Behar