mourning dove

noun

a dove, Zenaidura macroura, of North America, noted for its plaintive cooing.

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"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?
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decorum
the act of or need for making up one's mind.
dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.
a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.
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Origin of mourning dove

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35

Words nearby mourning dove

mournful, mourning, mourning band, mourning becomes electra, mourning cloak, mourning dove, mourning iris, mourning warbler, mouse, mouse deer, mouse pad
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for mourning dove

  • Our American turtle-dove, or mourning-dove, is much like this but nobody minds the few bits of grain it picks up.

    The Animal World, A Book of Natural History|Theodore Wood

  • She awoke at the cry of a jay in the maples, and then as she listened she heard a mourning-dove sob from the distance.

    Rose of Dutcher's Coolly|Hamlin Garland

  • Our most familiar wild species is the mourning-dove or turtle-dove (Zenaidura macroura) found abundantly all over the country.

    Elementary Zoology, Second Edition|Vernon L. Kellogg

British Dictionary definitions for mourning dove

mourning dove

noun

a brown North American dove, Zenaidura macroura, with a plaintive song
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