• Lapwing

    Pronunciation

    • IPA: /ˈlæpwɪŋ/

    Origin

    From Old English hlēapewince, from hlēapan ("to leap") + *winc- ("sway, totter") (because of its manner of flight). The modern form is influenced by popular etymology.

    Full definition of lapwing

    Noun

    lapwing

    (plural lapwings)
    1. Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae within family Charadriidae.
      • 1986, Steven L. Hilty, Bill Brown, A Guide to the Birds of Colombia, page 149,Plovers and lapwings are a large, virtually worldwide family that differs from sandpipers in, among other things, having a shorter, thicker, pigeonlike bill and more robust proportions.
      • 2010, Des Thompson, Ingvar Byrkjedal, Tundra Plovers, page 36,The resident tropical plovers have much less pointed wings, and most of the lapwings have fairly rounded wing-tips, a wing shape apparently more adapted to aerial manoeuvrability than to long-distance migration.
      • 2010, Clive Finlayson, Birds of the Strait of Gibraltar, page 244,Lapwings are abundant winter visitors to the area but, like the Golden Plovers, vary greatly in number between years.
    2. A silly man.

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