redshank

[ red-shangk ]

noun
  1. an Old World sandpiper, Tringa totanus, having red legs and feet.

Origin of redshank

1
First recorded in 1515–25; red1 + shank

Words Nearby redshank

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use redshank in a sentence

  • I have, however, a redshank in full breeding plumage, killed in Guernsey as late as the 23rd of April.

  • Many birds would starve there, but the redshank is quite happy, as Nature has fitted him for his life in such a place.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
  • No sooner does the redshank spy you than he is up and, with a shrill whistle of alarm, flies quickly away.

    On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
  • Kearton somewhere relates how he once induced a blackbird to sit on the eggs of a thrush, and a lapwing on those of a redshank.

    Birds in the Calendar | Frederick G. Aflalo
  • The redshank is a bird of frequent occurrence on all such parts of the coast as are suited to its habits.

British Dictionary definitions for redshank (1 of 2)

redshank

/ (ˈrɛdˌʃæŋk) /


noun
  1. either of two large common European sandpipers, Tringa totanus or T. erythropus (spotted redshank), having red legs

British Dictionary definitions for red shank (2 of 2)

red shank

noun
  1. an annual polygonaceous plant, Polygonum persicaria, of N temperate regions, having red stems, narrow leaves, and oblong spikes of pink flowers: Also called: persicaria, lady's-thumb

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