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Webster 1913 Edition
Woodcock
Wood′cockˊ
,Noun.
[AS.
wuducoc
.] 1.
(Zool.)
Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera
Scolopax
and Philohela
. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds. ☞ The most important species are the European (
Scolopax rusticola
) and the American woodcock (Philohela minor
), which agree very closely in appearance and habits. 2.
Fig.: A simpleton.
[Obs.]
If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you
Run your neck into the noose, and cry, “A
Run your neck into the noose, and cry, “A
woodcock
!” Beau. & Fl.
Little woodcock
. (a)
The common American snipe.
(b)
The European snipe.
– Sea woodcock fish
, the bellows fish.
– Woodcock owl
, the short-eared owl (
– Asio brachyotus
). Woodcock shell
, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus
– Murex
, having a very long canal, with or without spines. Woodcock snipe
. See under
Snipe
.Definition 2024
Woodcock
woodcock
woodcock
See also: Woodcock
English
Noun
woodcock (plural woodcock or woodcocks)
- Any of several wading birds in the genus Scolopax, of the family Scolopacidae, characterised by a long slender bill and cryptic brown and blackish plumage.
- A simpleton.
- Beaumont and Fletcher
- If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you / Run your neck into the noose, and cry, "A woodcock!"
- 1838, Nathan Drake, Belletristical Works (volume 1, page 215)
- "Now will that silly woodcock make such a report of what I have said to his chosen friend," observed Sir Robert to his companion when my Lord Cobham was out of hearing […]
- Beaumont and Fletcher
Derived terms
Derived terms
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Translations
wading bird in the genus Scolopax
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