quail

¹ American  

[kweyl] / kweɪl /

noun

quails, plural quail plural

1. Also called true quail.  any of numerous gallinaceous birds, order Galliformes, classified as either Old World quails, within the pheasant family (Phasinidae), especially the genus Coturnix, or the distantly related New World quails, comprising their own family (Odontophoridae), including the genera Colinus, Callipepla, and Odontophorus : among the most familiar true quails are the Old World king quail and the New World bobwhite.

2. button quail.

3. Older Slang. a woman or girl.

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quail ² American  

[kweyl] / kweɪl /

verb (used without object)

quails, present (3rd person singular) quailed, past participle, past quailing present participle

1. to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger; shrink with fear.

   Synonyms:

   cower, blench, flinch, recoil

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quail ¹ British  

/ kweɪl /

noun

1. any small Old World gallinaceous game bird of the genus Coturnix and related genera, having a rounded body and small tail: family Phasianidae (pheasants)

2. any of various similar and related American birds, such as the bobwhite

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quail ² British  

/ kweɪl /

verb

1. (intr) to shrink back with fear; cower

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Synonym Usage

See wince ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• quaillike
  adjective
• unquailing
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• quail
  plural
• quails
  plural

Participles

• quailing
  present
• quailed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• quail
  simple
• quails
  simple
• have quailed
  perfect
• has quailed
  perfect
• am quailing
  progressive
• are quailing
  progressive
• is quailing
  progressive
• have been quailing
  perfect progressive
• has been quailing
  perfect progressive

Past

• quailed
  simple
• had quailed
  perfect
• was quailing
  progressive
• were quailing
  progressive
• had been quailing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will quail
  simple
• will have quailed
  perfect
• will be quailing
  progressive
• will have been quailing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of quail¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English quaille, quaylle, from Old French quaille, from Medieval Latin quaccola; imitative of its call

Origin of quail²

1400–50; late Middle English < Middle Dutch quelen, queilen

Explanation

Smaller than the chicken and not as well known as the pigeon, quail is like the often-overlooked middle child of the ground-dwelling bird family. Quail can also mean to cringe in fear or pain. So if you are a quail, you might quail at the thought of quail-hunting season. Quail is a broad, catchall word; it can refer to any one of many small domestic game birds. So if you’re bragging about the quail you shot on a hunting trip to your uptight, bird-obsessed pals, they might demand to know if it was the Bobwhite quail, the Valley quail or the Scaled quail, to name just a few. If you use this word as a verb, it means to draw back in fear or pain. You might quail in fear at the sight of a playground bully. A good way to remember this verb meaning is to think of how the word chicken is also associated with fear.

Example Sentences

Players get into signature events such as the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow, which featured just 72 players, based on a variety of qualifying criteria.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026

Alex Fitzpatrick hit a sparkling seven-under-par 64 to seize a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.

From BBC • May 10, 2026

Feb. 1 to the Quail Hill community center area after receiving a report of a possible rattlesnake bite, said Kyle Oldoerp, public information officer for the Irvine Police Department.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

Quail may be small, but serving each guest their own beautifully cooked bird is a showstopper in a way that rivals any prime rib or turkey.

From Salon • Dec. 4, 2025

I recognized the place immediately, because every other subdivision on the access road was walled in, whereas Quail Hollow was just a plastic sign hammered into the ground.

From "Paper Towns" by John Green