high-hole
/ˈhʌɪhəʊl/US. Now rare
noun
The northern flicker, Colaptes auratus, a brownish woodpecker with a spotted underside and a black crescent on the breast, found in North and Central America.
- Now chiefly in lists of names..
Origin
Early 19th century; earliest use found in Alexander Wilson (1766–1813), ornithologist and poet. Folk-etymological alteration of hickwall, after high and hole, perhaps on account of the typical location of its nest inside a nesting hole in a tree.