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hernshaw

[hurn-shaw]
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noun British Dialect.
  1. a heron.
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Origin of hernshaw

1555–65; variant of dial. heronsew, Middle English < Middle French heronceau, heroncel, diminutive of heron heron
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hernshaw

Historical Examples

  • Miss Hernshaw didn't seek to fathom the mystery of his closing words.

    Questionable Shapes

    William Dean Howells

  • Miss Hernshaw caught her breath, as if she were going to speak, but she did not say anything.

    Questionable Shapes

    William Dean Howells

  • Presently he got up a little brusquely, and said, "I'm going to Hernshaw."

  • But they have an uneasy feeling that he knows a hawk from a hernshaw when the wind is southerly.

  • The last word should be hernshaw, the old name for the heron.

    The Ornithology of Shakespeare

    James Edmund Harting