dabchick

American  

[dab-chik] / ˈdæbˌtʃɪk /

noun

1. any of various small grebes, especially the little grebe.

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dabchick British  

/ ˈdæbˌtʃɪk /

noun

1. any of several small grebes of the genera Podiceps and Podilymbus, such as Podiceps ruficollis of the Old World

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Etymology

Origin of dabchick

1565–75; earlier dapchick ( see dap, chick); compare doppened moorhen (literally, dipping duck)

Example Sentences

As he spoke he bobbed and dipped like a dabchick or little grebe.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

The most expert waterman that sculls his skiff on the Thames or Isis, is but an humble and unskillful imitator of the dabchick.

From Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds by Ruskin, John

He thought of a dabchick that hides so cleverly no one can put it up— then, suddenly, is there, close at hand.

From The Promise of Air by Blackwood, Algernon

She was a pretty girl herself, in the florid, barmaid style, but as different a creature to Lilian Strange as a plump dabchick to an Arctic tern.

From The Fire Trumpet A Romance of the Cape Frontier by Mitford, Bertram

The otter remembered her experience with the dabchick, and believed that to capture a full-grown duck would tax her utmost strength and cause a general alarm.

From Creatures of the Night A Book of Wild Life in Western Britain by Rees, Alfred Wellesley