lapwing

[ lap-wing ]

/ ˈlæpˌwɪŋ /

noun

a large Old World plover, Vanellus vanellus, having a long, slender, upcurved crest, an erratic, flapping flight, and a shrill cry.

any of several similar, related plovers.

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Origin of lapwing

before 1050; Middle English, variant (by association with wing) of lapwinke, Old English hlēapwince plover. See leap, wink¹

Words nearby lapwing

lapsus linguae, laptev sea, laptop, laptray, laputa, lapwing, laqueus, lar, lar gibbon, lara, laramie

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for lapwing

The lapwing escaped unhurt, and flew screaming into the air, but Selta held to the hawk till we ran up and helped her.
The Pilots of Pomona|Robert Leighton
You resemble the lapwing, who crieth most where her nest is not.
The Ornithology of Shakespeare|James Edmund Harting
Horatio (Hamlet, v. 2) says of Osric: This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.
Folk-lore of Shakespeare|Thomas Firminger Thiselton-Dyer
Up in the heather the lapwing flew about flapping her wings.
Tales of Two Countries|Alexander Kielland

In some of them the hind toe, which has already ceased to have any function in the lapwing, is wholly wanting.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 16, Slice 2|Various

British Dictionary definitions for lapwing

lapwing

/ (ˈlæpˌwɪŋ) /

noun

any of several plovers of the genus Vanellus, esp V. vanellus, typically having a crested head, wattles, and spursAlso called: green plover, pewit, peewit

Word Origin for lapwing

C17: altered form of Old English hlēapewince plover, from hlēapan to leap + wincian to jerk, wink 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