stock dove
[duhv]
- a cosmopolitan wild pigeon, Columba oenas, of Europe.
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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. 2018
Examples from the Web for stock dove
Historical Examples
Inside the sticks were the feathers and part of the skeleton of a stock-dove.
The Swan and Her CrewGeorge Christopher Davies
Among the feathered tribes they mention the “thrush and stock-dove.”
The Indian in his WigwamHenry R. Schoolcraft
Among the feathered tribes they mention the "thrush and stock-dove."
The American IndiansHenry R. Schoolcraft
You received, you say, last spring a stock-dove from Sussex, and are informed that they sometimes breed in that county.
The Natural History of Selborne, Vol. 1Gilbert White
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 EnglandW.H. Hudson
stock dove
- a European dove, Columba oenas, smaller than the wood pigeon and having a uniformly grey plumage
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Word Origin
C14: so called because it lives in tree trunks. See stock
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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