lapwing
/ˈlæpwɪŋ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.94 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
noun
Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
Example Sentences
- "Plovers and lapwings are a large, virtually worldwide family that differs from sandpipers in, among other things, having a shorter, thicker, pigeonlike bill and more robust proportions."
- "The resident tropical plovers have much less pointed wings, and most of the lapwings have fairly rounded wing-tips, a wing shape apparently more adapted to aerial manoeuvrability than to long-distance migration."
- "Lapwings are abundant winter visitors to the area but, like the Golden Plovers, vary greatly in number between years."
- "This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head."
Etymology
From Middle English lapwynge, lapwynke, lappewincke, lapwynche, lhapwynche, from Old English hlēapewince (“lapwing”), from Old English hlēapan (“to leap”) + wincian (“to wink, make a sign”), due to its manner of flight. Cognate with West Frisian ljip (“lapwing”). The modern form is influenced by folk etymology to resemble English wing.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: lapwynge, hlēapewince, hlēapan
Usage
Inflected Forms
Phrases
African wattled lapwing
Andean lapwing
banded lapwing
black-headed lapwing
blacksmith lapwing
black-winged lapwing
brown-chested lapwing
cayenne lapwing