01 n. Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in the…
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1.
Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds.(Zool.)
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2.
Fig.: A simpleton.[Obs.]“If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you Run your neck into the noose, and cry, “A woodcock!”” — Beau. & Fl.
Phrases & compounds
Little woodcock —
The common American snipe.
Sea woodcock fish —
the bellows fish.
Woodcock owl —
the short-eared owl (Asio brachyotus).
Woodcock shell —
the shell of certain mollusks of the genus Murex, having a very long canal, with or without spines.
Woodcock snipe —
See under Snipe.