Godwit

//ˈɡɑd.wɪt// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of four species of long-billed migratory wading birds in the genus Limosa, of the family Scolopacidae.

    "My foot-boy shall eat pheasants, calvered salmons, / Knots, godwits, lampreys: I myself will have / The beards of barbels, served instead of salads […]"

  2. 2
    large wading bird that resembles a curlew; has a long slightly upturned bill wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
yarwhelpyarwhelpyarwip

Example

More examples

"The bar-tailed godwit migrates from Alaska to New Zealand."

Etymology

Origin unknown. A surface analysis would suggest Old English *gōdwiht as the term's ultimate origin, corresponding to good + wight (“creature”), but the term is attested only since late Middle English. The Oxford English Dictionary considers the term to probably have originally been imitative of the bird's call.

Related phrases

Hudsonian godwitbar-tailed godwitblack-tailed godwitmarbled godwitwading bird

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.