sandpiper

American  

[sand-pahy-per] / ˈsændˌpaɪ pɛr /

noun

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

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sandpiper British  

/ ˈsændˌpaɪpə /

noun

1. 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

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

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Etymology

Origin of sandpiper

First recorded in 1665–75; sand + piper

Example Sentences

The state’s shores offer temperate-weather hiking with views of dramatic cliffs, crashing waves, pelagic birds such as the blue-footed booby and several species of sandpiper, and native wildflowers.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 16, 2024

Jolie is the 14,000th addition to the ark; the 13,000th milestone species, announced in July 2022, was the spoon-billed sandpiper.

From National Geographic • May 19, 2023

Birders flocked to the 520 floating bridge this week after learning that a sharp-tailed sandpiper had been spotted nearby.

From Seattle Times • Sep. 30, 2022

The former Times critic Parul Sehgal noted that Watson covers vast terrain while “skittering back and forth like a sandpiper at the shores of language’s Great Debates.”

From New York Times • May 6, 2022

The ornithologist David Sibley says that in Cape May, New Jersey, he once spotted a bird in flight from two hundred yards away and knew, instantly, that it was a ruff, a rare sandpiper.

From "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell