Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as guinea-fowl.
  • noun A courtezan.
  • noun A species of fritillary, Fritillaria Meleagris, the petals of which are spotted like the guinea-fowl.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Mr. Morris's grand group number in "The Hard Nut" is framed within Adrianne Lobel's inky darkness, outlined by sharp, white, pin-stripe edges and backed by a speckled expanse that suggests both the chill of a nighttime snowfall and the decorative pattern of guinea-hen feathers.

    A 'Nutcracker' Like No Other 2007

  • Mr. Morris's grand group number in "The Hard Nut" is framed within Adrianne Lobel's inky darkness, outlined by sharp, white, pin-stripe edges and backed by a speckled expanse that suggests both the chill of a nighttime snowfall and the decorative pattern of guinea-hen feathers.

    A 'Nutcracker' Like No Other 2007

  • Ere I would say, I would drown myself for the love of a guinea-hen, I would change my humanity with a baboon.

    Othello, the Moore of Venice 2004

  • Lewis had some fowls, and among them was a particularly pestiferous guinea-hen that used to get up at three in the morning and go around making the kind of a noise that a guinea-hen must like and is willing to get up early to hear.

    Mark Twain: A Biography 2003

  • It was a clear, bright night; locating the guinea-hen, he slipped up stealthily with a stout stick.

    Mark Twain: A Biography 2003

  • Later in the day Clemens gave orders to Lewis to “kill and eat that guinea-hen,” which Lewis did.

    Mark Twain: A Biography 2003

  • If they had any beans they would send me over a cupful, or I would suddenly receive a present of doughnuts from some ex-roundup cook who had succeeded in obtaining a little flour and sugar, and if a man shot a guinea-hen it was all I could do to make him keep half of it for himself.

    The Rough Riders Roosevelt, Theodore, 1858-1919 1992

  • Madame Maigret had made a guinea-hen pie, and the superintendent had brought out of his cellar one of the last bottles of an old Châteauneuf du Pape he had once bought a case of, marked down, when he was on Rue Drouot.

    Maigret and the Informer Simenon, Georges, 1903- 1971

  • "Oh, there's a whacker!" cried East; "we haven't been within a hundred yards of his barn; we haven't been up here above ten minutes, and we've seen nothing but a tough old guinea-hen, who ran like a greyhound."

    Tom Brown's Schooldays Hughes, Thomas, 1822-1896 1971

  • "Indeed, that's all true, Holmes, upon my honour," added Tom; "we weren't after his fowls; guinea-hen ran out of the hedge under our feet, and we've seen nothing else."

    Tom Brown's Schooldays Hughes, Thomas, 1822-1896 1971

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