whippoorwill

American  

[hwip-er-wil, wip-, hwip-er-wil, wip-] / ˈʰwɪp ərˌwɪl, ˈwɪp-, ˌʰwɪp ərˈwɪl, ˌwɪp- /

noun

1. a nocturnal North American nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, having a variegated plumage of gray, black, white, and tawny.

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whippoorwill British  

/ ˈwɪpʊˌwɪl /

noun

1. a nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, of North and Central America, having a dark plumage with white patches on the tail

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Etymology

Origin of whippoorwill

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; imitative

Example Sentences

The composer Nico Muhly remembered the whippoorwill that sang for his family at dinnertime in rural Vermont and how it shaped his early sense of listening.

From New York Times • May 17, 2022

Klara Soderberg sings about broken hearts as her whippoorwill voice breaks them.

From Chicago Tribune • Aug. 4, 2012

Current projects include a study of the effects of controlled burns on bird breeding, the relationship of songs with choice of mate, and whippoorwill territories.

From New York Times • Nov. 28, 2011

Once he put his '"trap" on the limb where a song sparrow came each dawn to serenade his nesting mate; once near a beer barrel which a whippoorwill had chosen for its nightly concert stage.

From Time Magazine Archive

But soon he let his thoughts return to the river, and as he lay there a whippoorwill began to sing on the opposite shore, darkness spread over the land, and Stuart dropped off to sleep.

From "Stuart Little" by E.B. White