quail

¹ American  

[kweyl] / kweɪl /

noun

plural

quails,

plural

quail

1. Also called true quail.  any of numerous gallinaceous birds, order Galliformes, classified as either Old World quails, within the pheasant family (Phasinidae), especially the genus Coturnix, or the distantly related New World quails, comprising their own family (Odontophoridae), including the genera Colinus, Callipepla, and Odontophorus : among the most familiar true quails are the Old World king quail and the New World bobwhite.

2. button quail.

3. Older Slang. a woman or girl.

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quail ² American  

[kweyl] / kweɪl /

verb (used without object)

1. to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger; shrink with fear.

   Synonyms:

   cower, blench, flinch, recoil

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quail ¹ British  

/ kweɪl /

noun

1. any small Old World gallinaceous game bird of the genus Coturnix and related genera, having a rounded body and small tail: family Phasianidae (pheasants)

2. any of various similar and related American birds, such as the bobwhite

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quail ² British  

/ kweɪl /

verb

1. (intr) to shrink back with fear; cower

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Related Words

See wince ¹.

Other Word Forms

• quaillike
  adjective
• unquailing
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of quail¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English quaille, quaylle, from Old French quaille, from Medieval Latin quaccola; imitative of its call

Origin of quail²

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle Dutch quelen, queilen

Explanation

Smaller than the chicken and not as well known as the pigeon, quail is like the often-overlooked middle child of the ground-dwelling bird family. Quail can also mean to cringe in fear or pain. So if you are a quail, you might quail at the thought of quail-hunting season. Quail is a broad, catchall word; it can refer to any one of many small domestic game birds. So if you’re bragging about the quail you shot on a hunting trip to your uptight, bird-obsessed pals, they might demand to know if it was the Bobwhite quail, the Valley quail or the Scaled quail, to name just a few. If you use this word as a verb, it means to draw back in fear or pain. You might quail in fear at the sight of a playground bully. A good way to remember this verb meaning is to think of how the word chicken is also associated with fear.

Example Sentences

Our tablemates had purchased a litany of fried options, including scotch eggs from the Quail Inn, which also serves bacon-wrapped jalapeño peppers, cheese fritters and “whole, partially deboned quail.”

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2026

Hernandez was wounded on Feb. 1 while hiking on Quail Hill in Irvine.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026

Manchester Farms Quail – Quail can be surprisingly tough to track down, even at specialty butchers, but Manchester Farms makes this delicious little bird totally accessible for home cooks.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025

Then I showed it at the Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, which is a car show that happens every August during Monterey Car Week in California.

From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 16, 2025

I felt certain Margo could not be in Quail Hollow.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green