wagtail

[wag-teyl]

noun

1. any of numerous small, chiefly Old World birds of the family Motacillidae, having a slender body with a long, narrow tail tails that is habitually wagged up and down.

2. any of several similar birds, as the water thrushes of the genus Seiurus.

wagtail

/ ˈwæɡˌteɪl /

noun

1. any of various passerine songbirds of the genera Motacilla and Dendronanthus, of Eurasia and Africa, having a very long tail that wags when the bird walks: family Motacillidae

Word History and Origins

Origin of wagtail¹

First recorded in 1500–10; wag + tail ¹

Example Sentences

Drama also erupted on the final day of round one voting after a nail-biting three-way tussle between the wedge-tailed eagle, the galah and the willie wagtail came down to a handful of write-in votes.

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A cement and brick pillbox had been built down by the river, right on the bend, among the sedges, destroying the nests of the teal and the gray wagtails.

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A lark went twittering up into the brighter sunshine above, soared and sang and came slowly down, ending with a sideways, spread-wing glide and a wagtail’s run through the grass.

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Two fledglings - a grey wagtail and a black redstart - were chased and swallowed when they landed in the water.

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The area is unusually abundant with animal life: the novel’s first chapter teems with wagtails, willow warblers, geese, horses, snow leopards, wolves, sheep, goats, geckos, and frogs.

Read more on The New Yorker