woodcock

American  

[wood-kok] / ˈwʊdˌkɒk /

noun

• woodcocks,
  plural
• woodcock
  plural

1. either of two plump, short-legged migratory game birds of variegated brown plumage, the Eurasian Scolopax rusticola and the smaller American Philohela minor.

2. any of various pileated or ivory-billed woodpeckers.

3. Archaic. a simpleton.

---

woodcock British  

/ ˈwʊdˌkɒk /

noun

1. an Old World game bird, Scolopax rusticola, resembling the snipe but larger and having shorter legs and neck: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes

2. a related North American bird, Philohela minor

3. obsolete a simpleton

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• woodcock
  plural
• woodcocks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of woodcock

before 1050; Middle English wodecok, Old English wuducoc. See wood ¹, cock ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

woodcock woodcocks

New Yorkers can’t get enough of the strutting woodcock.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 9, 2026

While migration and reproduction take a lot of energy, American woodcock reduce the cost in other ways, Slezak said.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 19, 2024

They concluded the woodcock gets its brilliance from the microscopic structure of tiny barbs arranged in parallel like window blinds, increasing the feathers’ reflective surface area.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 21, 2022

We startle a chunky little woodcock that's sheltering in the long grass and it twitters its indignation shrilly.

From BBC ● Jan. 2, 2020

With one swing he tossed a brace of woodcock in the corner.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

Food writing as politically incorrect and unabashedly chauvinistic is as rare these days as, say, the roasted woodcocks Liebling seems to have eaten by the dozen.

From Slate ● Nov. 22, 2017

There are dozens of Scolopacidae species spanning the globe, and while close to two dozen have "sandpiper" in their names, many more don't: godwits, woodcocks, stints, knots, yellowlegs, etc.

From The Verge ● Jun. 26, 2016

The Mighty Merlins knew from their reconnaissance that woodcocks started vocalizing about 4:30 a.m.

From Washington Post ● May 24, 2016

The cook pirouetted with dignity around the 24-foot electric stove, carefully sniffed the game rack, where hung pheasants, quail, ducks, grouse, and woodcocks waiting till they were high enough for a President's taste.

From Time Magazine Archive

We traverse fields and forests, walk through barren lands where quails and woodcocks fly up at our feet, and, after twelve miles of bushwhacking, enter the Plattekill State Forest.

From "On the Far Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George