Link Centre Dictionary

curlew

cur·lew

UK/ˈkɜːlju/ US/ˈkɜːlu/ uncommon

noun

1.

large migratory shorebirds of the sandpiper family; closely related to woodcocks but having a down-curved bill

Origin

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).

Phrases

  • beach stone-curlew
  • bristle-thighed curlew
  • bush stone-curlew
  • eastern curlew
  • Eskimo curlew
  • Eurasian curlew
  • Eurasian stone-curlew
  • great stone-curlew

Related words

Word family

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.