goatsucker
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of goatsucker
1605–15; so called because formerly believed to suck the milk of goats; translation of Latin caprimulgus, itself translation of Greek aigothḗlas
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.
The birds have a number of nicknames, with the most unusual being 'the goatsucker'.
From BBC ● Mar. 16, 2026
The harmless, unoffending goatsucker, from the time of Aristotle down to the present day, has been in disgrace with man.
From Wanderings in South America by Waterton, Charles
Four other species of the goatsucker articulate some words so distinctly, that they have received their names from the sentences they utter, and absolutely bewilder the stranger on his arrival in these parts.
From Wanderings in South America by Waterton, Charles
By night the goatsucker visited it, and the bat, and the white owl gliding down the slope.
From The Amateur Poacher by Jefferies, Richard
A goatsucker may be confused with a swallow, and a swallow may pass as a tern.
From A Quantitative Study of the Nocturnal Migration of Birds. Vol.3 No.2 by George H. Lowery.
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.
