goatsucker
English
Etymology
From goat + sucker, from the ancient folk belief that they sucked milk from goats.
Noun
goatsucker (plural goatsuckers)
- Any bird in the nightjar family Caprimulgidae.
- 1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286:
- "[A]h, that was the woodcock - and the goatsucker - yes, yes! it sounds strange to him, that hasn't heard him[.]"
Alternative forms
Translations
Caprimulgidae
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