curlew

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a large migratory wading bird of the genus Numenius, with long legs and a long slender bill curved downward

   A curlew probed the tidal mud with its curved bill.

2. 2
   noun

   part of the name stone-curlew, applied to several long-legged land birds unrelated to true curlews

   The stone-curlew remained motionless among the pale rocks.

Common collocations

• stone curlew Noun + noun

From Middle English curlew and Old French courlieu, probably imitative of the bird's ringing call. The English form may also have been influenced by an old word for a runner, fitting the bird's quick movement across open ground.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images