quail

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

• intransitive verb To shrink back in fear; cower.
• noun Any of various primarily ground-dwelling birds of the genus Coturnix, especially C. coturnix, small in size and having mottled brown plumage and a short tail.
• noun Any of various similar or related birds of the Americas, such as the bobwhite or the California quail.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To curdle; coagulate.
• To begin to die; decline; fade; wither.
• To lose heart or courage; shrink before danger or difficulty; flinch; cower; tremble.
• To slacken.
• To quell; subdue; overpower; intimidate; terrify.
• noun The mountain quail, Oreortyx pictus, of the western United States: so named from its bright marking of white and chestnut.
• noun An Australian hemipod, or button-quail, Turnix varius.
• noun A small gallinaceous bird of the Old World, related to the partridge, and belonging to the genus Coturnix.
• noun One of the various small gallinaceous birds more or less closely resembling the quail proper: loosely applied, with or without a qualifying term, especially in the United States, to all the species of Ortyx or Colinus, Lophortyx, Oreortyx, Callipepla, Cyrtonyx, and other genera of American Ortyginæ or Odontophorinæ.
• noun A prostitute. Also called plover.

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

• intransitive verb obsolete To curdle; to coagulate, as milk.
• transitive verb obsolete To cause to fail in spirit or power; to quell; to crush; to subdue.
• intransitive verb obsolete To die; to perish; hence, to wither; to fade.
• intransitive verb To become quelled; to become cast down; to sink under trial or apprehension of danger; to lose the spirit and power of resistance; to lose heart; to give way; to shrink; to cower.
• noun (Zoöl.) Any gallinaceous bird belonging to Coturnix and several allied genera of the Old World, especially the common European quail (Coturnix communis), the rain quail (Coturnix Coromandelica) of India, the stubble quail (Coturnix pectoralis), and the Australian swamp quail (Synoicus australis).
• noun (Zoöl.) Any one of several American partridges belonging to Colinus, Callipepla, and allied genera, especially the bobwhite (called Virginia quail, and Maryland quail), and the California quail (Calipepla Californica).
• noun (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of Turnix and allied genera, native of the Old World, as the Australian painted quail (Turnix varius). See Turnix.
• noun obsolete A prostitute; -- so called because the quail was thought to be a very amorous bird.
• noun (Zoöl.) a small Asiatic quail-like bird of the genus Turnix, as Turnix taigoor, a black-breasted species, and the hill bustard quail (Turnix ocellatus). See Turnix.
• noun (Zoöl.) one of several small Asiatic species of Turnix, as Turnix Sykesii, which is said to be the smallest game bird of India.
• noun See under Mountain.
• noun a call or pipe for alluring quails into a net or within range.
• noun (Zoöl.) any one of several American ground pigeons belonging to Geotrygon and allied genera.
• noun (Zoöl.) the New Zealand sparrow hawk (Hieracidea Novæ-Hollandiæ).
• noun See Quail call, above.
• noun (Zoöl.) the dowitcher, or red-breasted snipe; -- called also robin snipe, and brown snipe.
• noun (Zoöl.), [Local, U. S.] the turnstone.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

• noun Any of various small game birds of the genera Coturnix, Anurophasis or Perdicula in the Old World family Phasianidae or of the New World family Odontophoridae.

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

• noun flesh of quail; suitable for roasting or broiling if young; otherwise must be braised
• noun small gallinaceous game birds
• verb draw back, as with fear or pain