quail

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Quail

Wikipedia

[edit] English

[edit] Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈkweɪl/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}
• Rhymes: -eɪl

[edit] Etymology 1

From Old French quaille (French: caille).

[edit] Noun

quail (plural quails)

1. Any of various small game birds of the family Phasianidae or of the family Odontophoridae.

[edit] Derived terms

• common quail

[edit] Translations

[edit] See also

• partridge

[edit] Etymology 2

Middle Dutch

[edit] Verb

to quail (third-person singular simple present quails, present participle quailing, simple past and past participle quailed)

1. To shrink or waver; to become fearful or doubtful.
   • 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four, p25

     His heart quailed before the enormous pyramidal shape.