moorfowl

American  

[moor-foul] / ˈmʊərˌfaʊl /

noun

Chiefly British.

moorfowls plural

1. the red grouse.

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moorfowl British  

/ ˈmɔː-, ˈmʊəˌfaʊl /

noun

1. (in British game laws) an archaic name for red grouse Compare heathfowl

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• moorfowls
  plural
• moorfowl
  plural

Etymology

Origin of moorfowl

First recorded in 1500–10; moor ¹ + fowl

Example Sentences

Yet here is a man, a little crazed perhaps, who finds dueling a pitiable farce and who would rather watch the love-antics of moorfowl at sunrise than slaughter them.

From Time Magazine Archive

But the falcon has another matter in hand than that of bringing down a sluggard pheasant; for moorfowl, when fairly on the wing, scud along like the wind.

From The Last of the Vikings by Bowling, John

In the same way moorfowl means, not a moor that is connected with a fowl, but a fowl that is connected with a moor.

From A Handbook of the English Language by Latham, R. G. (Robert Gordon)

She had prepared with her own hands a moorfowl pie and potted nowt's head, besides a profusion of what she termed "trifles, just for Mary, poor thing, to divert herself with upon the road."

From Marriage by Ferrier, Susan Edmonstone

Already he had struck a fine moorfowl that ran amongst the gorse and I a hare that sat upright beneath a leafy beech, thinking himself well hidden.

From Cedric, the Forester by Marshall, Bernard Gay