rasorial

American  

[ruh-sawr-ee-uhl] / rəˈsɔr i əl /

adjective

1. given to scratching the ground for food, as is the habit of chickens and other gallinaceous birds.

2. pertaining to a bird's foot adapted for scratching.

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rasorial British  

/ rəˈsɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. (of birds such as domestic poultry) adapted for scratching the ground for food

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Etymology

Origin of rasorial

First recorded in 1830–40; from New Latin Rasor(es) former name of the order, Late Latin rāsōrēs, plural of rāsor “scratcher, scraper,” from Latin rād(ere) “to scratch, scrape” + -tor noun suffix of agency (with -dt- becoming -s-) + -ial adjective suffix; raze, -tor, -ial

Example Sentences

The pheasant family, of this order, includes the most beautiful of the rasorial birds; indeed, some of them may, perhaps, be justly regarded as pre-eminent in this respect over all the rest of their class.

From Project Gutenberg

But the gallinaceous beak is not in this species correlated, as in the Partridges, with stout rasorial feet; on the contrary, the legs and feet are extremely small and feeble, and scarcely able to sustain the weight of the body.

From Project Gutenberg

Rasorial, ra-sō′ri-al, adj. belonging to an order of birds which scrape the ground for their food, as the hen.—n.pl.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the most striking features is the extreme paucity of rasorial birds—peafowl, junglefowl, pheasants, partridges, or any of the natural genera into which these divide, and which are all well represented in the Arakan Hills.

From Project Gutenberg

Two pigeons and four species of quail are all the rasorial birds in the island; the true gallinaceous birds being wholly wanting.

From Project Gutenberg