Partridge definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (18)

American Heritage Dictionary (2)

noun Any of several plump-bodied Old World game birds, especially of the genera Perdix and Alectoris, related to the pheasants and grouse.
noun Any of several birds, such as the ruffed grouse or the bobwhite, similar or related to the partridge.

Century Dictionary (10)

A gallinaceous or rasorial bird of the family Tetraonidæ and of one or another of the subfamilies perdicinæ, Caccabinæ, and Ortyginæ, of small size as compared with grouse (Tetraoninæ), with four toes, scaly shanks seldom spurred, fairly well-developed tail, and naked nostrils, The birds more particularly designated partridges are the European species of the genera Perdix and Caccabis. The best-known of these is the common gray partridge, Perdix cinerea, the only bird of the kind that is common in Great Britain, and hence the one specifically called a partridge in English. It extends through Europe, and in Asia is replaced by closely related forms, as P. barbata and P. hodgsoniæ. Other Asiatic birds which have partridge as at least the bookname are species of Oreoperdix, Ammoperdix, Arborophila, Bambusicola, etc. Those of the last-named genus are known as bamboo-partridges. In Europe other birds properly called partridges are species of Caccabis. The red-legged, French, or Guernsey partridge is Caccabis rufa; the Greek partridge is C. græca; the rock-partridges are C. saxatilis and C. petrosa. Related to these in Asia and Africa are other species of Caccabis. Snow-partridges belong to the genus Lerva or Tetraoperdix, as L. or T. niuicola, and to Tetraogallus. Of the latter genus are the chourtka (T. caspius), the Himalayan partridge (T. himalayensis), and other species. The hill-partridges are a dozen or more species of Arborophila, found in India and countries further east, and several of Galloperdix. (See cut under Galloperdix.) The very numerous species of francolins are often brought under Perdicinæ, and some of them are called black partridges. They are mostly African. (See cut under francolin.) All the partridge-like birds of America are entirely different from any of the foregoing, and constitute a separate subfamily called Colinæ, Ortyginæ, or Odontophorinæ; these are in different parts of the United States (as explained under pheasant) known as partridges or quails (quail being properly the name of the Old World birds of the genus Coturnix). The common partridge or quail of the United States is the Virginian bobwhite, Colinus or Ortyx virginianus, and it is the only one that is extensively dispersed in the country. But in the southwestern States and Territories are found numerous other partridges or quails, of the genera Oreortyx, Lophortyx, Callipepla, and Cyrtonyx; while ranging through Mexico and Central America and well into South America are yet others, belonging to the genera Eupsychortyx, Dendrortyx, and Odontophorus. See cuts under Caccabis. Callipepla, Cyrtonyx, helmet-quail, Lerua, Odontophorinæ, Oreorlyx, and quail. See also grouse. And brunstonys, and also grett plente of Partyrege and veri good wynes. Torkington, Diarie of Eng. Travell, p. 58.
By a misapplication of the name (by English sportsmen and others in South America), species of the family Tinamidæ, as Nothura maculosa, the common partridge of the pampas of the Argentine Republic, and Rhynchotus rufescens, the great or large partridge.
In Australia, by misapplication, species of the family Tumicidæ.

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Red-leg partridge, among the many game birds used here, came steeped in a dark, tealike broth that popped with sweet onions and fresh green peas. — Philly.com - Latest Videos
"Wow! Just think what would have happened if that target had been a deer, or even a partridge A deer or a partridge isn't apt to stand still," returned Randy. — The Rover Boys at Colby Hall or The Struggles of the Young Cadets
The last shot cartridge was used that night on a partridge, and the red squirrels went unmolested thereafter. — Bowdoin Boys in Labrador An Account of the Bowdoin College Scientific Expedition to Labrador led by Prof. Leslie A. Lee of the Biological Department
"She's like a partridge," he said She's just Vinie Mocket," answered the boy. — Lewis Rand
Then I made myself into the god from the machine by calmly announcing the only way things could be arranged would be for the two of them to get married Struthers, at this suggestion, promptly became as coy as a partridge-hen. — The Prairie Child

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