from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Snipe \Snipe\, n. [OE. snipe; akin to D. snep, snip, LG. sneppe,
snippe, G. schnepfe, Icel. sn[imac]pa (in comp.), Dan.
sneppe, Sw. sn[aum]ppa a sanpiper, and possibly to E. snap.
See {Snap}, {Snaffle}.]
1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game
birds of the family {Scolopacidae}, having a long,
slender, nearly straight beak.
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Note: The common, or whole, snipe ({Gallinago c[oe]lestis})
and the great, or double, snipe ({Gallinago major}),
are the most important European species. The Wilson's
snipe ({Gallinago delicata}) (sometimes erroneously
called {English snipe}) and the gray snipe, or
dowitcher ({Macrohamphus griseus}), are well-known
American species.
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2. A fool; a blockhead. [R.] --Shak.
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{Half snipe}, the dunlin; the jacksnipe.
{Jack snipe}. See {Jacksnipe}.
{Quail snipe}. See under {Quail}.
{Robin snipe}, the knot.
{Sea snipe}. See in the Vocabulary.
{Shore snipe}, any sandpiper.
{Snipe hawk}, the marsh harrier. [Prov. Eng.]
{Stone snipe}, the tattler.
{Summer snipe}, the dunlin; the green and the common European
sandpipers.
{Winter snipe}. See {Rock snipe}, under {Rock}.
{Woodcock snipe}, the great snipe.
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from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Woodcock \Wood"cock`\, n. [AS. wuducoc.]
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1. (Zool.) 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.
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Note: The most important species are the European ({Scolopax
rusticola}) and the American woodcock ({Philohela
minor}), which agree very closely in appearance and
habits.
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2. Fig.: A simpleton. [Obs.]
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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.
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{Little woodcock}.
(a) The common American snipe.
(b) The European 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}.
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