WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Wood"cock`
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [AS. wuducoc.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds.

Note: The most important species are the European (Scolopax rusticola) and the American woodcock (Philohela minor), which agree very closely in appearance and habits.

2. Fig.: A simpleton. [Obs.] If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you Run your neck into the noose, and cry, "A woodcock!" Beau. & Fl. Little woodcock. (a) The common American snipe. (b) The European snipe. -- Sea woodcock fish, the bellows fish. -- Woodcock owl, the short-eared owl (Asio brachyotus). -- Woodcock shell, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus Murex, having a very long canal, with or without spines. -- Woodcock snipe. See under Snipe.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913