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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Any of several Old World birds of the genus Vanellus related to the plovers, especially V. vanellus, having a narrow crest and erratic flight behavior. Also called green plover, pewit.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A plover-like bird with four toes, a crest, and lustrous plumage, belonging to the genus Vanellus and family Charadriidæ. The best-known lapwing is V. cristatus, a common European bird, also called pe-wit, from its cry. The adult male has the upper parts iridescent with green, violet, and purplish tints, the under parts white, a large area on the breast and the top of the head and the long crest black, the tail-coverts chestnut or orange-brown, the tail black and white, the bill black, and the feet red. It is about as large as a pigeon. The eggs are esteemed a great luxury, and many are annually sent to the London markets from the marshy districts of England, under the name of plovers' eggs. There are other species. Also called flopuing.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae of the family Charadriidae.
  2. n. A silly man.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. A small European bird of the Plover family (Vanellus cristatus, or Vanellus vanellus). It has long and broad wings, and is noted for its rapid, irregular fight, upwards, downwards, and in circles. Its back is coppery or greenish bronze. Its eggs are the “plover's eggs” of the London market, esteemed a delicacy. It is called also peewit, dastard plover, and wype. The gray lapwing is the Squatarola cinerea.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. large crested Old World plover having wattles and spurs

Etymologies

  1. By folk etymology from Middle English lapwink, hoopoe, lapwing, from Old English hlēapewince : hlēapan, to leap + *wincan, to waver.

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  • ofravens He names a lapwing, starts rabbits in a rout
    legging it most nimble
    to sprigged hedge of bramble,
    stalks red fox, shrewd stoat
    .
    from "Ode for Ted," Sylvia Plath Apr 14, 2008

‘lapwing’ has been looked up 1180 times, added to 11 lists, commented on 1 time, and has a Scrabble score of 13.