whip-poor-will love

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Either of two nightjars (Caprimulgus vociferus or C. arizonae) found in North and Central America and having mottled brown, black, and gray feathers that blend in with their woodland habitat.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An American caprimul gine bird, Antrostomus vociferus, related to the chuck-will's-widow, A. carolinensis, and resembling the European goatsucker, Caprimulgus europæus.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Zoöl.) An American bird (Antrostomus vociferus) allied to the nighthawk and goatsucker; -- so called in imitation of the peculiar notes which it utters in the evening.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun American nocturnal goatsucker with grey-and-white plumage

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Imitative of its call.]

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Examples

  • I try to think of all the Audubon birds I know and list them in my head: Painted bunting, swallow-tailed hawk, great cinereous owl, whip-poor-will, the hemlock warbler...

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • A whip-poor-will called in the night, the breeze stirring high branches.

    Fire The Sky W. Michael Gear 2011

  • A whip-poor-will called in the night, the breeze stirring high branches.

    Fire The Sky W. Michael Gear 2011

  • I try to think of all the Audubon birds I know and list them in my head: Painted bunting, swallow-tailed hawk, great cinereous owl, whip-poor-will, the hemlock warbler...

    The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011

  • Somewhere in the distance a whip-poor-will beckoned the night.

    The Search For WondLa Tony DiTerlizzi 2010

  • The human condition put names to everything: bloodroot rockflower whip-poor-will, tulip bitternut hackberry.

    'American Rust' 2009

  • Except for a distant barking dog and an even more distant whip-poor-will, everything was quiet.

    The Disunited States of America 2006

  • Then he whistled a soft imitation of a whip-poor-will.

    among the enemy: The Shadow Children Books MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX 2005

  • Then he whistled a soft imitation of a whip-poor-will.

    among the enemy: The Shadow Children Books MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX 2005

  • Then he whistled a soft imitation of a whip-poor-will.

    among the enemy: The Shadow Children Books MARGARET PETERSON HADDIX 2005

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