pewit

or pee·wit

[ pee-wit, pyoo-it ]

noun
  1. the lapwing, Vanellus vanellus.

  2. the phoebe.

Origin of pewit

1
First recorded in 1520–30; imitative

Words Nearby pewit

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use pewit in a sentence

  • I distinctly remembered firing it at a pewit an hour before, for Edmee had wanted to examine the bird's plumage.

    Mauprat | George Sand
  • On the 7th, we saw a curlieu and a pewit, and on the 9th we caught a land-bird, very much resembling a starling.

  • One of the first birds I saw, and one of the most puzzling, was the lapwing or pewit.

    Fresh Fields | John Burroughs
  • In his best days, as he records in one of his letters, it was said of him that he “tripped like a pewit.”

    The Art of Letters | Robert Lynd
  • Now and then I caught the cry of a pewit, or saw a snipe glance up from his bed; but mainly I was busied about the mare.

    The Splendid Spur | Arthur T. Quiller Couch

British Dictionary definitions for pewit

pewit

/ (ˈpiːwɪt) /


noun
  1. another name for lapwing

Origin of pewit

1
C13: imitative of the bird's cry

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