wryneck

[ rahy-nek ]

/ ˈraɪˌnɛk /

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noun

Informal.

torticollis.
a person having torticollis.

any of several small Old World climbing birds of the subfamily Jynginae, of the woodpecker family, noted for the peculiar habit of twisting the head and neck.

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Origin of wryneck

First recorded in 1575–85; wry + neck

Words nearby wryneck

WRVS, wry, wrybill, wryly, wrymouth, wryneck, wry-necked, W.S., WSA, WSSD, WST

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use wryneck in a sentence

Last year the wryneck was a scarce bird in this neighbourhood; in all my walks I heard but two or three, and at long intervals.
The Hills and the Vale|Richard Jefferies
The sound is unlike any other, but that is nothing, since the same can be said of the wryneck and cuckoo and grasshopper warbler.
Birds and Man|W. H. Hudson
I have lingered long over the wryneck, but have still a story to relate of this bird--not a fairy tale this time, but true.
Birds in Town and Village|W. H. Hudson
All at once he remembered that he knew, or had known formerly, the wryneck very well, but he had never learnt its name.
Birds in Town and Village|W. H. Hudson

Nightjars love this quiet corner, and the nuthatch and the wryneck find sanctuary in the hollows of the trees.
In the West Country|Francis A. Knight

British Dictionary definitions for wryneck

wryneck

/ (ˈraɪˌnɛk) /

noun

either of two cryptically coloured Old World woodpeckers, Jynx torquilla or J. ruficollis, which do not drum on trees

another name for torticollis

informal a person who has a twisted neck

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