whippoorwill

[ hwip-er-wil, wip-; hwip-er-wil, wip- ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a nocturnal North American nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, having a variegated plumage of gray, black, white, and tawny.

whippoorwill

/ ˈwɪpʊˌwɪl /

a nightjar, Caprimulgus vociferus, of North and Central America, having a dark plumage with white patches on the tail

An Americanism dating back to 1700–10; imitative

C18: imitative of its cry

And if I win, I claim the first whippoorwill you shoot; the second may go to your aunt.

The nighthawk and whippoorwill are its relatives, and it resembles them not a little, especially in its nocturnal habits.

In fact, Tory and Miss Frean did not go indoors until, from somewhere deep in the woods, a whippoorwill began his evening call.

In the warm, scented dusk the locusts shrilled in the trees, and far up the gorge the whippoorwill called and called.

He heard Quekolis, the whippoorwill, raising his doleful lament down near the river.

April 23, 2024inveterate

[in-vet-er-it ]

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