woodcock
[woo d-kok]
- either of two plump, short-legged migratory game birds of variegated brown plumage, the Eurasian Scolopax rusticola and the smaller American Philohela minor.
- any of various pileated or ivory-billed woodpeckers.
- Archaic. a simpleton.
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Origin of woodcock
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for woodcock
Contemporary Examples
I was also struck by the range of food—he talks about eating tripe and woodcock.
Historical Examples
The Woodcock is very rare, because it is only to be met with in inhabited countries.
The History of LouisianaLe Page Du Pratz
Like old Woodcock in the play, my cry is—'No money till I die.'
No, but I would sell my parole for a mess of woodcock, Harry.
The Lady and the PirateEmerson Hough
"He was coming round by the other side—shot a woodcock there once, sir," he said.
The New TenantE. Phillips Oppenheim
The law allows thirty woodcock, thirty partridges, and two deer to every hunter.
A Young Man in a HurryRobert W. Chambers
woodcock
- an Old World game bird, Scolopax rusticola, resembling the snipe but larger and having shorter legs and neck: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes
- a related North American bird, Philohela minor
- obsolete a simpleton
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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
Word Origin and History for woodcock
n.
Old English wuducoc, from wudu "wood" (n.) + coc "cock."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper