Any of several wading birds in the genus Scolopax, of the family Scolopacidae, characterised by a long slender bill and cryptic brown and blackish plumage.
Beaumont and FletcherIf I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you Run your neck into the noose, and cry, "A woodcock!"
1838, Nathan Drake, Belletristical Works (volume 1, page 215)"Now will that silly woodcock make such a report of what I have said to his chosen friend," observed Sir Robert to his companion when my Lord Cobham was out of hearing...
