grouse

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various plump, chickenlike game birds of the family Tetraonidae, chiefly of the Northern Hemisphere and having mottled brown or grayish plumage.
2. v. To complain; grumble.
3. n. A cause for complaint; a grievance.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The Scotch ptarmigan, moorhen, or red-game, Tetrao or Lagopus scoticus, a British gallinaceous bird with feathered feet. It is a local modification or insular race of the common ptarmigan of Europe. Hence — 2. Some bird like the above; any bird of the family Tetraonidœ and subfamily Tetraoninæ. These birds all have the feet and nasal fossæ more or less completely feathered, being thus distinguished from pheasants, partridges, quails, etc. There are numerous species, of several genera, all confined to the northern hemisphere. The largest is the European wood-grouse or cock-of-the-woods, Tetrao urogallus. (See capercaillie.) The next in size is the American sage-grouse or cock-of-the-plains, Centrocercus urophasianus. The black grouse is Lyrurus tetrix of Europe. The ruffed grouse are several species of Bonasa, as the European hazel-grouse, B. betulina, and the American, B. umbella. Notable American forms are the sharp-tailed grouse, Pediœcetes phasianellus, and the pinnated grouse, Cupidonia cupido; both are known as prairie-hens. The snow-grouse are sundry species of ptarmigan inhabiting boreal and alpine regions, and mostly turning pure white in winter; such are the willow-ptarmigan, Lagopus albus, the rock-ptarmigan, L. rupestris, and the Rocky Mountain ptarmigan, L. leucurus.
2. n. In the widest sense, as a collective plural, the grouse family, Tetraonidæ. In this sense the word includes various partridges and related birds.
3. To hunt or shoot grouse.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of various game birds of the family Tetraonidae which inhabit temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere.
2. v. To seek or shoot grouse.
3. n. A cause for complaint.
4. v. To complain or grumble.
5. adj. Australia, New Zealand, slang Excellent.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) Any of the numerous species of gallinaceous birds of the family Tetraonidæ, and subfamily Tetraoninæ, inhabiting Europe, Asia, and North America. They have plump bodies, strong, well-feathered legs, and usually mottled plumage. The group includes the ptarmigans (Lagopus), having feathered feet.
2. v. To seek or shoot grouse.
3. v. informal To complain or grumble.

WordNet 3.0

1. v. complain.
2. v. hunt grouse
3. n. popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs and feet
4. n. flesh of any of various grouse of the family Tetraonidae; usually roasted; flesh too dry to broil