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nightjar

 - 3 dictionary results

night⋅jar

  [nahyt-jahr]
Use nightjar in a Sentence
–noun
1. a nocturnal European bird, Caprimulgus europaeus, of the family Caprimulgidae, having a short bill and a wide mouth and feeding on insects captured in the air.
2. Also called goatsucker. any other nocturnal or crepuscular bird of the family Caprimulgidae.
Origin:
1620–30; night + jar 2 (from its harsh cry)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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night·jar   (nīt'jär')   
n.  A goatsucker, especially Caprimulgus europaeus of Europe, having gray and brown mottled plumage with long, slender white wings and a short bill.

[night + jar2 (from its harsh call).]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

nightjar 
nocturnal bird, goatsucker, 1630, from night + jar (v.). So called for the "jarring" sounds made by the male when the female is brooding, which have been described as a "churring trill that seems to change direction as it rises and falls."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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