yellowlegs

[ yel-oh-legz ]

noun(used with a singular verb)

either of two American shorebirds having yellow legs, Tringa melanoleuca(greater yellowlegs ) or T. flavipes(lesser yellowlegs ).

Origin of yellowlegs

1765–75, Americanism;yellow + legs

Words Nearby yellowlegs

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

How to use yellowlegs in a sentence

The Greater yellowlegs is an uncommon spring and probably fall migrant in Coahuila.
Birds from Coahuila, Mexico | Emil K. Urban
The Eskimo curlew is decreasing to the danger point, and the yellowlegs is following.
Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador | William Wood
Thereupon Dame yellowlegs stepped out, and began to pose most gracefully.
Childhood's Favorites and Fairy Stories | Various

British Dictionary definitions for yellowlegs

yellowlegs

/ (ˈjɛləʊˌlɛɡz) /

noun

(functioning as singular) either of two North American sandpipers, Tringa melanoleuca (or Totanus melanoleucus) (greater yellowlegs) or T. flavipes (lesser yellowlegs), having bright yellow legs

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

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