avocet

American

[av-uh-set] / ˈæv əˌsɛt /

noun

any of several long-legged, web-footed shorebirds constituting the genus Recurvirostra, having a long, slender, upward-curving bill.

avocet British

/ ˈævəˌsɛt /

noun

any of several long-legged shore birds of the genus Recurvirostra, such as the European R. avosetta, having black-and-white plumage and a long upward-curving bill: family Recurvirostridae, order Charadriiformes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of avocet

1760–70; < French avocette, probably erroneous spelling for New Latin avosetta < Italian < Upper Italian (< Venetian)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023