dotterel
Americannoun
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any of several plovers usually inhabiting upland areas, especially Eudromias morinellus, of Europe and Asia.
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British Dialect. a silly, stupid person, especially one who is easily duped.
noun
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a rare Eurasian plover, Eudromias morinellus, with reddish-brown underparts and white bands around the head and neck
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any similar and related bird, esp of the genus Charadrius
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dialect a person who is foolish or easily duped
Etymology
Origin of dotterel
First recorded in 1400–50, dotterel is from the late Middle English word dotrelle. See dote, -rel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Scotland is home to Arctic specialists - birds like dotterel, snow bunting and ptarmigan - which are found high on Scotland's mountains.
From BBC • Sep. 25, 2022
Other names of birds not quite so common used to describe stupid people are dotterel and dodo.
From Stories That Words Tell Us by O'Neill, Elizabeth (Elizabeth Speakman)
Newton, A., on the throat-pouch of the male bustard; on the differences between the females of two species of Oxynotus; on the habits of the Phalarope, dotterel, and godwit.
From The Descent of Man by Darwin, Charles
A dotterel goes plaintively piping over the stones, and the "cheep, cheep," of the awakening ling-birds rises from every brae.
From The Confessions of a Poacher by Anonymous
This poor dotterel, Sir Arthur, is playing fast and loose with me.
From Anna St. Ives by Holcroft, Thomas
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.
