wagtail C2 Topic:Animals US /ˈwæɡˌteɪl/ UK /ˈwæɡteɪl/ See IPA manual Freq #113332 Meanings 1 noun a slender Old World songbird of the genus Motacilla, named for its habit of repeatedly bobbing its long tail A pied wagtail ran across the lawn, flicking its tail after every few steps. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a slender old world... Motacilla Word family Forms wagtails Derived forms wagtail-like Related forms pipitpasserinepied wagtail Etymology A compound of wag + tail, replacing the similar Middle English bird name wagstert. The name directly describes the conspicuous up-and-down movement of the bird's long tail. Topics Animals External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # wagtail **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈwæɡˌteɪl/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈwæɡteɪl/ **Frequency rank:** 113332 ## Meanings 1. a slender Old World songbird of the genus Motacilla, named for its habit of repeatedly bobbing its long tail ## Examples - A pied wagtail ran across the lawn, flicking its tail after every few steps. ## Synonyms - Motacilla ## Derived Forms - wagtail-like ## Related Forms - pipit - passerine - pied wagtail ## Etymology A compound of wag + tail, replacing the similar Middle English bird name wagstert. The name directly describes the conspicuous up-and-down movement of the bird's long tail. ## Topics - Animals markdown