Wagtail
[wægteil]
Definition
(noun.) Old World bird having a very long tail that jerks up and down as it walks.
Typed by Clyde--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) Any one of many species of Old World singing birds belonging to Motacilla and several allied genera of the family Motacillidae. They have the habit of constantly jerking their long tails up and down, whence the name.
Typed by Dido
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Goosander, dun-diver, dish-washer (Mergus merganser or Mergus castor).[2]. Bird of the genus Motacilla.
Edited by Hilda
Unserious Contents or Definition
To see a wagtail in a dream, foretells that you will be the victim of unpleasant gossip, and your affairs will develop unmistakable loss.
Edited by Leopold
Examples
- Look at the water wagtail, she said and pointed to the gray ball of a bird that was bobbing up and down on a stone up the stream. Hemingway, Ernest. For Whom The Bell Tolls.
- I have two water-wagtails, carved in wood, and painted--perhaps you have seen it? D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- That is hers, those two wagtails in Hermione's boudoir--you've seen them--they are carved in wood and painted. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The hens were pecking round it, some chickens were balanced on the drinking trough, wagtails flew away in among trucks, from the water. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
Edited by Constantine