Adjacent Words

grayback definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a dowitcher with a grey back [syn: greyback, grayback, Limnodromus griseus]
2: a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere [syn: knot, greyback, grayback, Calidris canutus]

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Redhead Red"head` (-h?d`), n. 1. A person having red hair. 2. (Zo["o]l.) (a) An American duck (Aythya Americana) highly esteemed as a game bird. It is closely allied to the canvasback, but is smaller and its head brighter red. Called also red-headed duck. American poachard, grayback, and fall duck. See Illust. under Poachard. (b) The red-headed woodpecker. See Woodpecker. 3. (Bot.) A kind of milkweed (Asclepias Curassavica) with red flowers. It is used in medicine.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dowitcher Dow"itch*er, n. (Zo["o]l.) The red-breasted or gray snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus); -- called also brownback, and grayback.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Grayback Gray"back`, n. (Zo["o]l.) (a) The California gray whale. (b) The redbreasted sandpiper or knot. (c) The dowitcher. (d) The body louse.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Gray Gray, a. [Compar. Grayer; superl. Grayest.] [OE. gray, grey, AS. gr[=ae]g, gr[=e]g; akin to D. graauw, OHG. gr[=a]o, G. grau, Dan. graa, Sw. gr[*a], Icel. gr[=a]r.] [Written also grey.] 1. White mixed with black, as the color of pepper and salt, or of ashes, or of hair whitened by age; sometimes, a dark mixed color; as, the soft gray eye of a dove. These gray and dun colors may be also produced by mixing whites and blacks. --Sir I. Newton. 2. Gray-haired; gray-headed; of a gray color; hoary. 3. Old; mature; as, gray experience. Ames. Gray antimony (Min.), stibnite. Gray buck (Zo["o]l.), the chickara. Gray cobalt (Min.), smaltite. Gray copper (Min.), tetrahedrite. Gray duck (Zo["o]l.), the gadwall; also applied to the female mallard. Gray falcon (Zo["o]l.) the peregrine falcon. Gray Friar. See Franciscan, and Friar. Gray hen (Zo["o]l.), the female of the blackcock or black grouse. See Heath grouse. Gray mill or millet (Bot.), a name of several plants of the genus Lithospermum; gromwell. Gray mullet (Zo["o]l.) any one of the numerous species of the genus Mugil, or family Mugilid[ae], found both in the Old World and America; as the European species (M. capito, and M. auratus), the American striped mullet (M. albula), and the white or silver mullet (M. Braziliensis). See Mullet. Gray owl (Zo["o]l.), the European tawny or brown owl (Syrnium aluco). The great gray owl (Ulula cinerea) inhabits arctic America. Gray parrot (Zo["o]l.), a parrot (Psittacus erithacus), very commonly domesticated, and noted for its aptness in learning to talk. Gray pike. (Zo["o]l.) See Sauger. Gray snapper (Zo["o]l.), a Florida fish; the sea lawyer. See Snapper. Gray snipe (Zo["o]l.), the dowitcher in winter plumage. Gray whale (Zo["o]l.), a rather large and swift California whale (Rhachianectes glaucus), formerly taken in large numbers in the bays; -- called also grayback, devilfish, and hardhead.