woodcock

[ woo d-kok ]

/ ˈwʊdˌkɒk /

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noun, plural wood·cocks, (especially collectively) wood·cock for 1, 2.

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.

Nearby words

Origin of woodcock

before 1050; Middle English wodecok, Old English wuducoc. See wood¹, cock¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for woodcock

I was also struck by the range of food—he talks about eating tripe and woodcock.
Reichl’s Favorite Food Books|The Browser|August 11, 2011|DAILY BEAST
I know I shall break down and have a woodcock and some champagne.
Ayala's Angel|Anthony Trollope
Here elk and deer are bred, there are abundant hares and rabbits, and also woodcock, grouse and snipe shooting.
America, Volume I (of 6)|Joel Cook
There was Mrs. Woodcock peeping at him from behind a tussock of grass.
The Burgess Bird Book for Children|Thornton W. Burgess

If pheasant is not obtainable, prairie chicken is a perfect substitute for it, or woodcock will do in the place of either.
Gala Day Luncheons|Caroline Benedict Burrell
The Snipe much resembles the Woodcock, but is smaller, with longer tarsi.
Reptiles and Birds|Louis Figuier

British Dictionary definitions for woodcock

woodcock

/ (ˈwʊdˌkɒk) /

noun

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

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