whippoorwill

[hwip-er-wil, wip-, hwip-er-wil, wip-]

noun

1. a nocturnal North American nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, having a variegated plumage of gray, black, white, and tawny.

whippoorwill

/ ˈwɪpʊˌwɪl /

noun

1. a nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, of North and Central America, having a dark plumage with white patches on the tail

Word History and Origins

Origin of whippoorwill¹

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; imitative

Word History and Origins

Origin of whippoorwill¹

C18: imitative of its cry

Example Sentences

The words seemed to come from outside her, but it was only a whippoorwill offering its plaintive, three-note cry.

Read more on Literature

“If we don’t have the right habitat for quail, then we probably don’t have the right habitat for a variety of birds and pollinators — from whippoorwills and goldfinches to monarch butterflies and bumble bees.”

Read more on Washington Post

The composer Nico Muhly remembered the whippoorwill that sang for his family at dinnertime in rural Vermont and how it shaped his early sense of listening.

Read more on New York Times

The valley that was their base, echoing with the call of whippoorwills, remains off limits as well.

Read more on Reuters

You wouldn’t know it from “Walden,” but Thoreau wasn’t just observing toadstools and listening to whippoorwills during those two years by the pond.

Read more on Washington Post