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mourning dove

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noun
  1. a dove, Zenaidura macroura, of North America, noted for its plaintive cooing.
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Origin of mourning dove

An Americanism dating back to 1825–35
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mourning dove

Historical Examples

  • 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

  • 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.

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

British Dictionary definitions for mourning dove

mourning dove

noun
  1. a brown North American dove, Zenaidura macroura, with a plaintive song
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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