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quail

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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, esp. the bobwhite.
4. Slang. a woman or girl.
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Origin:
1300–50; ME quaille < OF < Gmc; cf. D kwakkel quail, MD, MLG quackele; akin to quack 1

Related forms:
quaillike, adjective
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quail

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

Synonyms:
recoil, flinch, blench, cower. See wince.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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quail 1   (kwāl)   
n.   pl. quail or quails

  1. Any of various Old World chickenlike birds of the genus Coturnix, especially C. coturnix, small in size and having mottled brown plumage and a short tail.

  2. Any of various similar or related New World birds, such as the bobwhite.


[Middle English quaille, from Old French, perhaps from Vulgar Latin *coacula, of imitative origin.]
quail 2   (kwāl)   
intr.v.   quailed, quail·ing, quails
To shrink back in fear; cower.

[Middle English quailen, to give way, probably from Middle Dutch quelen, to suffer, be ill; see gwelə- in Indo-European roots.]
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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Slang Dictionary
quail

  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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Word Origin & History

quail  (n.)
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.

quail  (v.)
"to lose heart, to shrink," c.1440, 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" (1398), from O.Fr. coailler, from L. coagulare (see coagulate). Sense of "cower" is attested from 1555. Common 1520-1650, then rare until 19c.; apparently revived by Scott.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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