lapwing
6 dictionary results for: Lapwing
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
[lap-wing] 
lap⋅wing
[lap-wing] –noun
| 1. | a large Old World plover, Vanellus vanellus, having a long, slender, upcurved crest, an erratic, flapping flight, and a shrill cry. |
| 2. | any of several similar, related plovers. |
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
| lap·wing
(lāp'wĭng') Pronunciation Key
n. Any of several Old World birds of the genus Vanellus related to the plovers, especially V. vanellus, having a narrow crest and erratic flight behavior. Also called green plover, pewit. [By folk etymology from Middle English lapwink, hoopoe, lapwing, from Old English hlēapewince : hlēapan, to leap + *wincan, to waver.] |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
lapwing
lapwing
M.E. lappewinke (1390), lapwyngis (c.1430), folk etymology alteration of O.E. hleapewince, lit. "leaper-winker," from hleapan "to leap" + wince "totter, waver, move rapidly," related to wincian "to wink." Said to be "in reference to its irregular flapping manner of flight" [Barnhart], but the lapwing also flaps around on the ground pretending to have a broken wing to lure egg-hunters away from its nest, which seems a more logical explanation. Its Gk. name was polyplagktos "luring on deceitfully."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
| lapwing | |
noun | |
| large crested Old World plover having wattles and spurs |
WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Lapwing
Lap"wing`\, n. [OE. lapwynke, leepwynke, AS. hle['a]pewince; hle['a]pan to leap, jump + (prob.) a word akin to AS. wincian to wink, E. wink, AS. wancol wavering; cf. G. wanken to stagger, waver. See Leap, and Wink.] (Zo["o]l.) A small European bird of the Plover family (Vanellus cristatus, or V. vanellus). It has long and broad wings, and is noted for its rapid, irregular fight, upwards, downwards, and in circles. Its back is coppery or greenish bronze. Its eggs are the "plover's eggs" of the London market, esteemed a delicacy. It is called also peewit, dastard plover, and wype. The gray lapwing is the Squatarola cinerea.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
Lapwing
the name of an unclean bird, mentioned only in Lev. 11:19 and Deut. 14:18. The Hebrew name of this bird, _dukiphath_, has been generally regarded as denoting the hoope (Upupa epops), an onomatopoetic word derived from the cry of the bird, which resembles the word "hoop;" a bird not uncommon in Palestine. Others identify it with the English peewit.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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