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.

---

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

---

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

---

quail ² British  

/ kweɪl /

verb

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

---

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

See Examples For:

quail quails quailed quailing

Another hunting trip gone awry earned Cheney embarrassing headlines in 2006 when he accidentally shot and wounded a member of the party with a round of birdshot while quail hunting on a Texas ranch.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2025

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland used cage-type traps baited with venison and quail - a small game bird - to capture the cats.

From BBC ● May 16, 2025

Under the ticking clock, the chefs wrestle with dishes like tournedos aux morilles and quail with cherries.

From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2024

A quail on the Mexican side called back, triggering a back-and-forth soundtrack that was both fitting and heartbreaking in an ecosystem split by an artificial barrier.

From Seattle Times ● May 18, 2024

The quail egg Runt had brought was smaller, its speckled shell flecked with dried grass, and it smelled gamier than the ones his humans ate.

From "Pax" by Sara Pennypacker

Depre raises around 17,500 free-range hens and 70,000 quails in sheds with outdoor runs.

From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026

Here you can chase hummingbirds, roam through the never-crowded garden and “visit Stoneview’s resident quails, which have their own fenced-in compound called, ‘Quallywood,’” she says.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026

The tinned dishes included typical Mediterranean ingredients, such as olives, tomatoes, quails and swordfish.

From Seattle Times ● May 11, 2024

Though scientists don’t fully understand these light-sensing receptors, one team identified certain brain cells in quails that could directly detect light, according to a study published in 2014 in Current Biology.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 20, 2023

They had so many kids following along behind them they looked like a covey of quails.

From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls

My heart quailed at the idea of sharing a roof with her again, all of us swept up in the tornado vortex of her illness.

From Slate ● Mar. 14, 2022

Naturally Helberg quailed at the thought of taking on Jimmy Stewart’s iconic role?

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2018

No, wait: She quailed at confronting the Islamic State.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 27, 2016

I quailed at all three of these statements, viewing them as manipulative attempts to assert worth.

From New York Times ● Nov. 30, 2012

For a moment the orcs quailed and the fiery shadow halted.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

It wasn’t so long ago that book publishers and bookstore owners were quailing about the coming of ebooks, like movie theater owners at the dawn of the television age.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 8, 2022

He has been a quailing, simpering paragon of mediocrity.

From Washington Post ● May 10, 2021

Instead, lawmakers, quailing at the union’s opposition, decided only that civilians may be included on the boards — which, in practice, is unlikely to happen.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2016

Oh, no, the quailing spirit wails, not another Rocky clone, not another inspirational fable to feed false dreams of glory among the little guys.

From Time Magazine Archive

But quailing at the thought of Strauss’s certain apoplexy at his withdrawal, he chose to put off the uncomfortable conversation until the last minute.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik