button quail

button quail

noun
1.
any of several birds of the family Turnicidae, of warmer parts of the Old World, resembling but not related to the true quail. Also called bustard quail, hemipode.
2.
the blue-breasted quail, Coturnix chinensis.

Origin:
1880–85
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To button quail

00:10

00:09

00:08

00:07

00:06

00:05

00:04

00:03

00:02

00:01

Button quail is always a great word to know.
So is callithumpian. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
Collins
World English Dictionary
button quail
 
n
Also called: hemipode any small quail-like terrestrial bird of the genus Turnix, such as T. sylvatica (striped button quail), occurring in tropical and subtropical regions of the Old World: family Turnicidae, order Gruiformes (cranes, rails, etc)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

button quail

any of numerous small, round-bodied birds belonging to the family Turnicidae of the order Gruiformes. The 15 species are confined to scrubby grasslands in warm regions of the Old World. Button quail are dull-coloured birds, 13 to 19 centimetres (5 to 7 inches) long, that run crouching and zigzagging through the grass but are capable of weak whirring flight on their short rounded wings. Button quail usually go about singly or in pairs; they may join flocks of true quails.

Learn more about button quail with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature
FAVORITES
RECENT