killdeer
See also: kill-deer
English
[edit]
Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Imitative of the bird's call.
Pronunciation
[edit]- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈkɪldɪɹ/
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈkɪldɪə/
Noun
[edit]killdeer (plural killdeers or killdeer)
- A North American plover (Charadrius vociferus) with a distinctive cry and territorial behavior that includes feigning injury to attract predators and spare the young in the nest.
- 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska, published 2005, page 50:
- A kill-deer, flying so low as to dip its wings, ever and anon alighted on the margin, its stilt-like legs half submerged as it ran hither and thither, now and then bending to dig in the sand with its long slender bill.
Translations
[edit]plover
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