English Explanatory Dictionary

quail

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To waste away; to fade, to wither.
  2. To daunt or frighten (someone).
  3. To lose heart or courage; to be daunted or fearful.
  4. Of courage, faith, etc.: to slacken, to give way.
noun
  1. Any of various small game birds of the genera Coturnix, Anurophasis or Perdicula in the Old World family Phasianidae or of the New World family Odontophoridae.
  2. The meat from this bird eaten as food.
  3. A prostitute.
verb
  1. To curdle or coagulate, as milk does.
name
  1. A surname from Scottish Gaelic.

Pronunciation

/kweɪl/ /ˈkweɪ.əl/ en-us-quail.ogg en-au-quail.ogg

Word forms

quail quails quailing quailed queal quele

Etymology

From Middle English quaylen, from Middle Dutch queilen, quēlen, from Old Dutch *quelan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwelan, from Proto-Germanic *kwelaną (“to suffer”). Doublet of queal.

Related words

partridge bevy

Derived words

quailingly unquailed unquailing banded quail black-breasted quail blue-breasted quail blue quail bobwhite quail brown quail bustard quail button quail button-quail buttonquail California quail California valley quail Canary Islands quail common quail dying quail elegant quail European quail Gambel's quail harlequin quail helmet quail Himalayan quail Japanese quail king quail marsh quail Maryland quail masked quail Mearns quail migratory quail Montezuma quail mountain quail New World quail New Zealand quail ocellated quail Old World quail painted quail pectoral quail plover quail quail-dove quail dove quailer quailery Quailgate quail hawk Quail Hollow quailish quaillike quail pipe quail-pipe quail-plover quail-thrush rain quail San Quentin quail scaled quail sea quail seaquail shell quail silver quail
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