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Curlew

//ˈkɜːlju// noun

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
  2. 2
    large migratory shorebirds of the sandpiper family; closely related to woodcocks but having a down-curved bill wordnet
  3. 3
    A stone curlew (Burhinidae spp.). Australia

    "That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew."

Etymology

From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).

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