curlew

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“
The ancients held that if a person suffering from jaundice looked sharply at a stone-curlew, and the bird looked steadily at him, he was cured of the disease.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun Any of several brownish, long-legged shore birds of the genus Numenius, having long, slender, downward-curving bills.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples

  • The ancients held that if a person suffering from jaundice looked sharply at a stone-curlew, and the bird looked steadily at him, he was cured of the disease. —  The Golden Bough
  • Except these, the plover and the curlew are the only inhabitants until you come to the Chesterfield high road. —  The Return of Sherlock Holmes
  • BirdLife stated that the Stone-curlew is the 64th shot protected bird the organisation received since the beginning of the migration season. —  timesofmalta.com
  • Wild as the curlew is in early summer (when there are young birds), he will fly up within a short distance of the wayfarer, whistling, and alight on the burnt, barren surface of the moor. —  The Life of the Fields
  • Then he let his horse out on a gallop, and away he sped like a curlew -- sweeping over the short grass, and drinking in the breeze like wine. —  Border Ghost Stories
 

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Curlew has been looked up 198 times, favorited 0 times, listed 15 times, and commented on 4 times.

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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English curleu, from Old French courlieu, perhaps of imitative origin.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Early modern English also curlue; from Middle English curlewe, curlue, corlow, corolewe, corolu, kirlewe, etc., from Old French corlieu, also corlis, courlis, French courlieu and courlis, dial. corlu, corleru, querlu, kerlu, etc., = Italian chiurlo = Spanish diminutive chorlito, a curlew. The word agrees in form in Old French with Old French corlieu, courlieu, corliu, curliu, etc., a messenger, but is prob. orig. imitative of the bird's cry (hence the free variation of form). Cf. Italian chiurlare, howl like the horned owl; Swedish kurra, coo, murmur: see curr, coo.
 

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/ˈkərlju/
by American Heritage

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