dunlin

[ duhn-lin ]

/ ˈdʌn lɪn /

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noun

a common sandpiper, Calidris alpina, that breeds in the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

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Origin of dunlin

1525–35; variant of dunling.See dun², -ling¹

Words nearby dunlin

dunking, Dunkirk, dunk shot, Dun Laoghaire, Dunlap, dunlin, Dunlop, Dunmore, dunnage, dunnakin, dunnart

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use dunlin in a sentence

Pickerel, pik′e-rel, n. an American pike: a wading bird, the dunlin.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 3 of 4: N-R)|Various
The period of incubation is probably the same as for the European dunlin, 22 days.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent
Its note is described as being louder than that of the Dunlin.
British Sea Birds|Charles Dixon
At Kaolak River (July 17, 1951) a dunlin was feeding and flying with a group of four semipalmated sandpipers.
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska|James W. Bee

Next day in the same general area where winds had driven water on the sand, four semipalmated sandpipers were feeding with dunlin.
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska|James W. Bee

British Dictionary definitions for dunlin

dunlin

/ (ˈdʌnlɪn) /

noun

a small sandpiper, Calidris (or Erolia) alpina, of northern and arctic regions, having a brown back and black breast in summerAlso called: red-backed sandpiper

Word Origin for dunlin

C16: dun ² + -ling 1

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