woodcock

[ wood-kok ]
See synonyms for woodcock on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural wood·cocks, (especially collectively) wood·cock for 1, 2.
  1. either of two plump, short-legged migratory game birds of variegated brown plumage, the Eurasian Scolopax rusticola and the smaller American Philohela minor.

  2. any of various pileated or ivory-billed woodpeckers.

  1. Archaic. a simpleton.

Origin of woodcock

1
before 1050; Middle English wodecok,Old English wuducoc.See wood1, cock1

Words Nearby woodcock

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

How to use woodcock in a sentence

  • Fry the trail of the woodcock or snipe in a little butter, and place on little rounds of fried bread and arrange round the dish.

    Dressed Game and Poultry la Mode | Harriet A. de Salis
  • Fillet a brace of woodcock, soak them in salad oil seasoned with black pepper, some cloves, and a pounded head of garlic.

    Dressed Game and Poultry la Mode | Harriet A. de Salis

British Dictionary definitions for woodcock

woodcock

/ (ˈwʊdˌkɒk) /


noun
  1. an Old World game bird, Scolopax rusticola, resembling the snipe but larger and having shorter legs and neck: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes

  2. a related North American bird, Philohela minor

  1. obsolete a simpleton

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