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quail

 [kweyl]   Example Sentences Origin

quail

1   [kweyl]
noun, plural quails, (especially collectively) quail.
1.
a small, migratory, gallinaceous game bird, Coturnix coturnix, of the Old World.
2.
any of several other birds of the genus Coturnix and allied genera.
3.
any of various New World gallinaceous game birds of the genus Colinus and allied genera, especially the bobwhite.
4.
Slang. a woman or girl.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English quaille < Old French < Germanic; compare Dutch kwakkel quail, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German quackele; akin to quack1

Related forms
quail·like, adjective

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Quail is always a great word to know.
So is geriatric. Does it mean:
an old person
an obnoxious or contemptible person
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Example Sentences
  • But I neither quiver nor quail.
  • The menu has excellent Mexican and international dishes — some favorites are the quail and the trout amandine.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

quail

2   [kweyl]
verb (used without object)
to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger; shrink with fear.
Origin:
1400–50; late Middle English < Middle Dutch quelen, queilen

Related forms
un·quail·ing, adjective

Synonyms
recoil, flinch, blench, cower. See wince.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To quail
Collins
World English Dictionary
quail1 (kweɪl)
 
—n , pl quails, quail
1.  any small Old World gallinaceous game bird of the genus Coturnix and related genera, having a rounded body and small tail: family Phasianidae (pheasants)
2.  any of various similar and related American birds, such as the bobwhite
 
[C14: from Old French quaille, from Medieval Latin quaccula, probably of imitative origin]

quail2 (kweɪl)
 
—vb
(intr) to shrink back with fear; cower
 
[C15: perhaps from Old French quailler, from Latin coāgulāre to curdle]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

quail
c.1300, quayle, from O.Fr. quaille, perhaps via M.L. quaccula (cf. Prov. calha, It. quaglia, O.Sp. coalla), from a Gmc. source (cf. O.H.G. quahtala "quail," Ger. Wachtel), imitative of the bird's cry. Or the Eng. word may be directly from Gmc. Slang meaning "young attractive woman" first recorded 1859.
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quail
"to lose heart, to shrink," mid-15c., of unknown origin, perhaps from M.Du. quelen "to suffer, be ill," from P.Gmc. *kwel- "to die" (see quell). Or from obsolete quail "to curdle" (late 14c.), from O.Fr. coailler, from L. coagulare (see
coagulate). Sense of "cower" is attested from 1550s. Common 1520-1650, then rare until 19c.; apparently revived by Scott.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

quail definition


  1. n.
    any girl or woman, especially considered sexually. (Crude.) : Look at that cute little quail over there.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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