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batfowl

American  
[bat-foul] / ˈbætˌfaʊl /

verb (used without object)

  1. to catch birds at night by dazzling them with a light and then capturing them in a net.

batfowl British  
/ ˈbætˌfaʊl /

verb

  1. (intr) to catch birds by temporarily blinding them with light

"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

Other Word Forms

  • batfowler noun

Etymology

Origin of batfowl

1400–50; late Middle English batfowlyn. See bat 2, fowl (v.)

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

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.