dowitcher

[ dou-ich-er ]

/ ˈdaʊ ɪtʃ ər /

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noun

any of several long-billed, snipelike shore birds of North America and Asia, especially Limnodromus griseus.

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Origin of dowitcher

1835–45, Americanism; perhaps < N Iroquoian; compare Mohawk tawístawis snipe

Words nearby dowitcher

dower, dower chest, dower house, dowf, dowie, dowitcher, do with, do without, Dow Jones Average, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Dowland

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use dowitcher in a sentence

This species of the dowitcher is a western bird, breeding well to the north and migrating south to Mexico.
Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast|Harry Thom Payne
Though not of the same genus, the closet relative to the Wilson snipe is the dowitcher or red-breasted snipe.
Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast|Harry Thom Payne
It might be confused with the dowitcher, but the flight, notes, and usual haunts of the latter are different.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent
Evidently the dowitcher does not breed in any numbers, on the eastern coast of Ungava.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent

Although all shore birds can swim, the dowitcher seems to be especially adept at it.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent

British Dictionary definitions for dowitcher

dowitcher

/ (ˈdaʊɪtʃə) /

noun

either of two snipelike shore birds, Limnodromus griseus or L. scolopaceus, of arctic and subarctic North America: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes

Word Origin for dowitcher

C19: of Iroquoian origin

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