plover

[ pluhv-er, ploh-ver ]
See synonyms for plover on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. any of various shorebirds of the family Charadriidae.: Compare dotterel (def. 1), killdeer, lapwing.

  2. any of various similar shorebirds, as the upland plover and other sandpipers.

Origin of plover

1
1275–1325; Middle English <Anglo-French; Old French plovier rainbird <Vulgar Latin *pluviārius.See pluvial, -er2

Words Nearby plover

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use plover in a sentence

  • It is interesting to notice a resemblance between this huge bird and our English wild duck or plover.

    Hunting the Lions | R.M. Ballantyne
  • Several yellow-legged plover were shot along the banks, but no attempt was made to bag ducks, as it was their breeding season.

  • A low call came from a brooding curlew, a faint sigh from a plover, and the wild rasping cry of a lapwing greeted them overhead.

    The Underworld | James C. Welsh
  • The common tern and the greater sand-plover nested on the shingly islands in the river.

    Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 | Charles Kenneth Howard-Bury
  • Again the plover's notes, this time in the field immediately behind; repeated, too, in the field on the right hand.

    The Hills and the Vale | Richard Jefferies

British Dictionary definitions for plover

plover

/ (ˈplʌvə) /


noun
  1. any shore bird of the family Charadriidae, typically having a round head, straight bill, and large pointed wings: order Charadriiformes

  2. any of similar and related birds, such as the Egyptian plover and the upland plover: See crocodile bird

  1. green plover another name for lapwing

Origin of plover

1
C14: from Old French plovier rainbird, from Latin pluvia rain

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