Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A widely distributed gallinule (Gallinula chloropus) having a black body and a red and yellow bill that extends up onto the forehead.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun The female moorfowl.
- noun The common British gallinule or water-hen, Gallinula chloropus. Also
moor-coot . - noun The American coot.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A black gallinule (
Gallinula chloropus ) that inhabits ponds and lakes. - noun The female of the
moor fowl ; themoor hen .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of various medium-sized water birds of the genus
Gallinula , of therail family, that feed in open water margins. - noun UK A female
red grouse , Lagopus lagopus scotica.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun black gallinule that inhabits ponds and lakes
- noun female red grouse
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I've woken at dawn to a sleeping village, nursed a mug of coffee in the chill of the open cockpit, watched a moorhen scutter across the smoking water, heard church bells chime the hour and felt—as it's so easy to do on the canals—at one with England.
The Best Way Through England Is Wet Jonathan Raban 2011
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New Mexico: Non-toxic ammunition required for common moorhen; sora, a freshwater marsh bird; Virginia rail and snipe with shotguns, as well as dove, band-tailed pigeon, upland game or migratory game birds on all State Game Commission owned or managed areas.
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A tiny rill meandered beneath a stone slab and as I crossed this a lurking moorhen was startled into headlong escape downstream, soon hidden beneath a golden tangle of overhanging gorse.
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New Mexico: Non-toxic ammunition required for common moorhen; sora, a freshwater marsh bird; Virginia rail and snipe with shotguns, as well as dove, band-tailed pigeon, upland game or migratory game birds on all State Game Commission owned or managed areas.
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‘Moorhen of Dharma’: Dharma can be difficult to contemplate when in pain; the moorhen, or ‘skitty coot,’ is a ridiculous-looking, weak bird.
The Best American Poetry 2010 Amy Gerstler 2010
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‘Moorhen of Dharma’: Dharma can be difficult to contemplate when in pain; the moorhen, or ‘skitty coot,’ is a ridiculous-looking, weak bird.
The Best American Poetry 2010 Amy Gerstler 2010
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‘Moorhen of Dharma’: Dharma can be difficult to contemplate when in pain; the moorhen, or ‘skitty coot,’ is a ridiculous-looking, weak bird.
The Best American Poetry 2010 Amy Gerstler 2010
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But the birds were there -- purple moorhen, jacanas and teals.
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Nor is Dodds above making pop-culture quips: “But it always comes out like a Gilbert-without-/Sullivan song” or refiguring common proverbs: “But the moorhen is two birds killed/with one act of kindness.”
Chris Hutchinson on Jeramy Dodds Lemon Hound 2009
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But the moorhen is two birds killed with one act of kindness.
Chris Hutchinson on Jeramy Dodds Lemon Hound 2009
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