woodcock

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See also: Woodcock

English

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Etymology

From Middle English wodecocke, wode-koc, wodekok, from Old English wudecocc, wuducoc, equivalent to wood +‎ cock.

Pronunciation

Noun

woodcock (plural woodcock or woodcocks)

  1. 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.
  2. 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 []

Derived terms

  • roding, the patrolling flight pattern of the woodcock.

Translations