Adjacent Words

gray plover definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Plover Plov"er, n. [OF. plovier, F. pluvier, prop., the rain bird, fr. LL. (assumed) pluviarius, fr. L. pluvia rain, from pluere to rain; akin to E. float, G. fliessen to flow. See Float.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds belonging to the family Charadrid[ae], and especially those belonging to the subfamily Charadrins[ae]. They are prized as game birds. 2. (Zo["o]l.) Any grallatorial bird allied to, or resembling, the true plovers, as the crab plover (Dromas ardeola); the American upland, plover (Bartramia longicauda); and other species of sandpipers. Note: Among the more important species are the blackbellied, or blackbreasted, plover (Charadrius squatarola) of America and Europe; -- called also gray plover, bull-head plover, Swiss plover, sea plover, and oxeye; the golden plover (see under Golden); the ring or ringed plover ([AE]gialitis hiaticula). See Ringneck. The piping plover ([AE]gialitis meloda); Wilson's plover ([AE]. Wilsonia); the mountain plover ([AE]. montana); and the semipalmated plover ([AE]. semipalmata), are all small American species. Bastard plover (Zo["o]l.), the lapwing. Long-legged, or yellow-legged, plover. See Tattler. Plover's page, the dunlin. [Prov. Eng.] Rock plover, or Stone plover, the black-bellied plover. [Prov. Eng.] Whistling plover. (a) The golden plover. (b) The black-bellied plover.