wryneck

American  

[rahy-nek] / ˈraɪˌnɛk /

noun

1. Informal.

   1. torticollis.

   2. a person having torticollis.

2. 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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wryneck British  

/ ˈraɪˌnɛk /

noun

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

2. another name for torticollis

3. informal a person who has a twisted neck

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Etymology

Origin of wryneck

First recorded in 1575–85; wry + neck

Example Sentences

A particularly unsettling development has the sister cities of St. Pete and Tampa at each other's wryneck throats.

From Time Magazine Archive

As love goddesses were "Fates", however, the wryneck may have been connected with the belief that the perpetrator of a murder, or a death spell, could be detected when he approached his victim's corpse.

From Myths of Babylonia and Assyria by Mackenzie, Donald Alexander

During the talk that followed I asked him if he knew the wryneck, and if it ever nested in his orchard.

From Birds in Town and Village by Hudson, W. H. (William Henry)

He then describes the differences in the structure of their feet; remarking, that most of them have three toes before and one behind, although a few, as the wryneck, have two only before.

From Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnæus with Introductory remarks on the Study of Natural History by MacGillivray, William

"Aye, that I will—that I will: but my head is considering of affairs," answered Master Short—he of the wryneck.

From The Splendid Spur by Quiller-Couch, Arthur Thomas, Sir