woodcock

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a stocky woodland wading bird of the genus Scolopax, with mottled plumage and a long slender bill

   At dusk, a woodcock rose from the damp edge of the forest.

2. 2
   noun

   an easily deceived or foolish person; archaic

   The comedy portrays the boastful suitor as a complete woodcock.

From Middle English wodecocke and Old English wuducocc, a compound of wood + cock. The bird name later developed an archaic figurative use for a simpleton or dupe.

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