stock dove

[ duhv ]

/ dʌv /

noun

a cosmopolitan wild pigeon, Columba oenas, of Europe.

Words nearby stock dove

stock character, stock clerk, stock company, stock culture, stock dividend, stock dove, stock exchange, stock farm, stock footage, stock guard, stock horse

Origin of stock dove

1300–50; Middle English stokdove; compare German Stocktaube; so called because it nests in hollow tree trunks

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for stock dove

In the stock-dove this is a better, more musical, and a more varied sound than in any other Columba known to me.
Afoot in England|W.H. Hudson
Among the feathered tribes they mention the “thrush and stock-dove.”
The Indian in his Wigwam|Henry R. Schoolcraft
Among the feathered tribes they mention the "thrush and stock-dove."
The American Indians|Henry R. Schoolcraft
The stock-dove, one of our pretty wild pigeons, nests in colonies in rabbit-burrows, as does the brown owl.
Poachers and Poaching|John Watson

Inside the sticks were the feathers and part of the skeleton of a stock-dove.
The Swan and Her Crew|George Christopher Davies

British Dictionary definitions for stock dove

stock dove

noun

a European dove, Columba oenas, smaller than the wood pigeon and having a uniformly grey plumage

Word Origin for stock dove

C14: so called because it lives in tree trunks. See stock

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