godwit

American  

[god-wit] / ˈgɒd wɪt /

noun

1. any of several large, widely distributed shorebirds of the genus Limosa, as the New World L. haemastica Hudsonian godwit, having a long bill that curves upward slightly.

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godwit British  

/ ˈɡɒdwɪt /

noun

1. any large shore bird of the genus Limosa, of northern and arctic regions, having long legs and a long upturned bill: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes

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Etymology

Origin of godwit

First recorded in 1545–55; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

godwit

Then we get Ms. Morris’s marvelous painting of a solitary godwit in a suggestively tarnished sky.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

Incredibly, it is possible that three-month-old godwit juveniles fly their nonstop maiden voyage without adult supervision.

From New York Times ● Sep. 20, 2022

For example, the bar-tailed godwit, a pigeon-sized shorebird, breeds in Alaska and then migrates to New Zealand.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2022

A rare shorebird called a Hudsonian godwit had been seen in Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, and they had hoped to get a better look at some of the less accessible shorelines from the water.

From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2022

The black-tailed godwit, though varying a good deal in size, is constantly larger than the bar-tailed, and especially longer in the legs.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various