Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Either of two wild, freshwater ducks (Anas americana of North America or A. penelope of Europe) having a grayish or brownish back and a white belly and wing coverts. The European widgeon has a reddish-brown head and creamy crown, and the American widgeon has a shiny white crown.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A duck of the genus Mareca, belonging to the subfamily Anatinæ. The European widgeon is M. penelope; the American is a distinct species, M. americana; each is a common wild-fowl of its own country, of the migratory and other habits common to the Anatinæ, breeding mostly in high or even hyperborean regions, and flocking in more temperate latitudes during the winter. They are also known as baldpates, from the white on the top of the head, whistler or whistling duck, whew, whewer. whim, from their cries, and by many local names.
- n. By extension, some or any wild duck, except the mallard: usually with a qualifying term.
- n. The gad wall, Chaulelasmus streperus: more fully called gray widgeon. See cut under Chaulelasmus.
- n. The pintail, Dafila acuta: more fully, gray or kite-tailed widgeon, or sea-widgeon. See cut under Dafila.
- n. The wood-duck, Aix sponsa: more fully, wood-widgeon. See cut under wood-duck.
- n. The ruddy duck, Erismatura rubida. See cut under Erismatura.
- n. A fool: alluding to the supposed stupidity of the widgeon. Compare goose, gudgeon.
- n. A small teasing fly; a midge.
- n. The goldeneyed duck, Clangula glaucion.
- n. The male goosander, Mergus merganser.
Wiktionary
- n. alternative spelling of wigeon.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) Any one of several species of fresh-water ducks, especially those belonging to the subgenus Mareca, of the genus Anas. The common European widgeon (Anas penelope) and the American widgeon (Anas Americana) are the most important species. The latter is called also
baldhead ,baldpate ,baldface ,baldcrown ,smoking duck ,wheat ,duck , andwhitebelly .
WordNet 3.0
- n. freshwater duck of Eurasia and northern Africa related to mallards and teals
Etymologies
- Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The American widgeon is the constant attendant on the canvass-back duck, so celebrated in the United States for its excellence as an article of food.”
The Lady's Country Companion: or, How to Enjoy a Country Life Rationally
“* Rallus Virginianus, the sorce bird or little brown rail, also called widgeon in Pennsyl.”
“I would agree with a canvasback or a drake widgeon.”
“Here's my Lab Moose with a widgeon drake at our duck blind in California's Suisun Marsh.”
“How freaked out will people get if they discover 10,000 or so American widgeon have died in Alaska this year, along with about 20,000 mallards?”
The Huffington Post: AlaskaDispatch.com: Massive Bird, Fish Kills in Alaska -- No One Noticed
“Other factors that are affected by the trophic cascades initiated by the geese include reduced N mineralization rates and declines in the populations of soil invertebrates, waders, and some species of duck such as the widgeon (Anas americana).”
“Wintering waterfowl include pintail, cinnamon teal, American widgeon, surf scoter and ruddy duck.”
Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve, California
“The “widgeon” I presume to be a mistake or a misprint for pigeon.”
“Dense beds of widgeon grass thrive in the creeks and shallow bay.”
Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Maryland
“Dense beds of widgeon grass, a type of submerged aquatic vegetation, have been reported in Little Monie Creek.”
Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, Maryland
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘widgeon’.
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Duck!
If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, or quacks like a duck, then you should probably list it here.
duck, Duck, turducken, duckling, duck tape, Mallard, rubber duckie, Daffy Duck, Donald Duck, lame duck, ducky, ducks and 95 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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phrontistery-w
from phrontistery.info
wack, wadmal, waftage, wafture, wagonette, wagtail, wainage, wainscot, wair, waits, wakerife, waldflute and 282 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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gone for the most part -geon
on is gone
plungeon, curmudgeon, pigeon, sturgeon, dudgeon, pigwidgeon, widgeon, habergeon, smidgeon, melungeon, gudgeon, chirurgeon and 16 more...
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New words to learn.
Words I needed to look up.
clathrate, cynosure, dialudic, andragogy, anosognosia, internecine, widgeon, noetic, chiral, amortal, elide, intelligenation and 1 more...
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18th century british
from Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops to Conquer, Christopher Smart's Jubilate Agno, Richard Brinsley Sheridan's School for Scandal ...
intimacy, piety, partiality, sentimental, plasters, mawkish, drab, spurious, sententious, bitters, folly, virtue and 132 more...
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Just ducky
bufflehead, merganser, canvasback, muscovy, smew, pochard, shoveler, goosander, teal, seaduck, sheldrake, mallard and 66 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for widgeon.
brtom Let some cry up woodcock or hare,
Your bustards, your ducks, and your widgeons;
But of all the gay birds in the air,
Here’s a health to the Three Jolly Pigeons.
Goldsmith, She Stoops, I Jan 8, 2007