wagtail

Meanings

1. 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.

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.

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