Category:Woodcock

Wood"cock`, n. Etym: [as. wuducoc.]

1. (zoöl.)

Defn: 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.

Note: the most important species are the european (scolopax Rusticola) and the american woodcock (philohela minor), which agree Very closely in appearance and habits.

2. Fig.: A simpleton. [obs.] 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. 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.