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curlew
(kɜːʳljuː)
Word forms: plural curlews
countable noun
A curlew is a large brown bird with long legs and a long curved beak. Curlews live near water and have a very distinctive cry.
curlew in British English
(ˈkɜːljuː)
noun
any large shore bird of the genus Numenius, such as N. arquata of Europe and Asia: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc), order Charadriiformes. They have a long downward-curving bill and occur in northern and arctic regions
Compare stone curlewWord origin
C14: from Old French corlieu, perhaps of imitative origincurlew in American English
(ˈkɜrˌlu; ˈkɜrlˌju)
nounWord forms: plural ˈcurˌlews or ˈcurˌlew
any of a genus (Numenius, family Scolopacidae) of large, brownish shorebirds with long legs and a long, down-curvedbill
Word origin
ME curleu < OFr corlieu, of echoic orig., but infl. by assoc. with corlieu, messenger, courierImage ofcurlew
© SanderMeertinsPhotography, shutterstock
Examples of 'curlew' in a sentencecurlew
Word lists withcurlew
birdNearby words ofcurlew
- curiosity
- curious
- curl
- curlew
- curly
- curmudgeon
- currency
Synonyms of 'curlew'
curlew
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