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courser - 7 dictionary results

cours⋅er

1[kawr-ser, kohr-]
–noun
1. a person or thing that courses.
2. a dog for coursing.

Origin:
1585–95; course + -er 1

cours⋅er

2[kawr-ser, kohr-]
–noun Literary.
a swift horse.

Origin:
1250–1300; ME < AF, OF coursier < VL *cursārius, equiv. to L curs(us) course + -ārius -ary; see -er 2

cours⋅er

3[kawr-ser, kohr-]
–noun
any of several swift-footed, ploverlike birds of the genera Cursorius and Pluvianus, chiefly of the desert regions of Asia and Africa.

Origin:
1760–70; irreg. < NL cursōrius fitted for running, equiv. to L cur(rere) to run + -sōrius, for -tōrius -tory 1 ; cf. course
cours·er 1   (kôr'sər, kōr'-)   
n.  
  1. A dog trained for coursing.
  2. A huntsman.
cours·er 2   (kôr'sər, kōr'-)   
n.  A swift horse; a charger.

Courser

Cours"er\ (k?rs"?r), n. [F. coursier.]

1. One who courses or hunts.

leash is a leathern thong by which . . . a courser leads his greyhound. --Hanmer.

2. A swift or spirited horse; a racer or a war horse; a charger. [Poetic.] --Pope.

3. (Zo["o]l.) A grallatorial bird of Europe (Cursorius cursor), remarkable for its speed in running. Sometimes, in a wider sense, applied to running birds of the Ostrich family.

courser

any of 9 or 10 species of Old World shorebirds belonging to the family Glareolidae (order Charadriiformes), which also includes the pratincoles. Most live in semideserts, where they chase insects afoot; they can, however, fly strongly with their short wings. The best-known species is the cream-coloured courser (Cursorius cursor) of Africa, a pale-brown bird with white underparts, bold eye stripes, and black wing tips. The Indian courser (C. coromandelicus) is brown with a strong face pattern. The bronze-winged courser (Rhinoptilus chalcopterus), largest of several species in sub-Saharan Africa, frequents woodlands and is chiefly nocturnal. It is about 30 cm (12 inches) long.

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