Hypertext Webster Gateway: "dotterel"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dotterel \Dot"ter*el\, a. [Cf. {Dottard}.]
Decayed. ``Some old dotterel trees.'' [Obs.] --Ascham.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Dotterel \Dot"ter*el\, n. [From {Dote}, v. i.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) A European bird of the Plover family
({Eudromias, or Charadrius, morinellus}). It is tame and
easily taken, and is popularly believed to imitate the
movements of the fowler.
In catching of dotterels we see how the foolish bird
playeth the ape in gestures. -- Bacon.
Note: The ringed dotterel (or ring plover) is {Charadrius
hiaticula}.
2. A silly fellow; a dupe; a gull. --Barrow.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
dotterel
n : rare plover of upland areas of Eurasia [syn: {dotrel}, {Charadrius
morinellus}, {Eudromias morinellus}]
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