water rail


noun
  1. an Old World rail, Rallus aquaticus, having olive-brown plumage marked with black and a long, red bill.

Origin of water rail

1
First recorded in 1645–55

Words Nearby water rail

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use water rail in a sentence

  • Couch gives some facts of interest relating to the mode of escape practised by the water-rail, swan, and some other aquatic birds.

    Animal Intelligence | George J. Romanes
  • It is astonishing what a small bit of marsh or bog will content a water rail, provided there is a sufficiency of cover.

  • I once turned out a dozen water-hens, a brown owl, a woodcock, and a water-rail from one little withe patch.

  • The water-rail, and corncrake or land-rail, are also allied to the Gallinules.

    Bible Animals; | J. G. Wood
  • A cause of deep regret, indeed,Had the door opened at the knocking of the water-rail!

British Dictionary definitions for water rail

water rail

noun
  1. a large Eurasian rail, Rallus aquaticus, of swamps, ponds, etc, having a long red bill

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