sandpiper

[ sand-pahy-per ]

/ ˈsændˌpaɪ pɛr /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR sandpiper ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

any of numerous shore-inhabiting birds of the family Scolopacidae, related to the plovers, typically having a slender bill and a piping call.

Nearby words

sandlotter, sandman, sandor, sandpaper, sandpapery, sandpiper, sandpit, sandra, sandringham, sandro, sandrocottus

Origin of sandpiper

First recorded in 1665–75; sand + piper

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for sandpiper

Just at this moment a bird flew over us, which Johansen, who is standing just outside the tent, took to be a kind of sandpiper.
Farthest North|Fridtjof Nansen
Otherwise very similar to the Least Sandpiper, but with the breast and sides of neck ruddy in summer.
The Bird Book|Chester A. Reed
It was in the late afternoon of the 28th of April, 1883, that I first witnessed this singing performance of the sandpiper.
Life Histories of North American Shore Birds, Part 1 (of 2)|Arthur Cleveland Bent
The stilt (Himantopus candidus) may be described as a sandpiper on red stilts.
Glimpses of Indian Birds|Douglas Dewar

Its colouration is very different, and quite that of a Sandpiper, while the pattern of Prosobonia is most singular.
Extinct Birds|Walter Rothschild

British Dictionary definitions for sandpiper

sandpiper

/ (ˈsændˌpaɪpə) /

noun

any of numerous N hemisphere shore birds of the genera Tringa, Calidris, etc, typically having a long slender bill and legs and cryptic plumage: family Scolopacidae, order Charadriiformes

any other bird of the family Scolopacidae, which includes snipes and woodcocks

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