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snipe

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.
snipe, common name for a shore bird of the family Scolopacidae (sandpiper sandpiper, common name for some members of the large family Scolopacidae, small shore birds, including the snipe and the curlew . Sandpipers are wading birds with relatively long legs and long, slender bills for probing in the sand or mud for their prey—all
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 family), native to the Old and New Worlds. The common, or Wilson's snipe (Capella gallinago), also called jacksnipe, is a game bird of marshes and meadows. It has an unusual courtship dance, circling and diving in the air. The mud snipe or woodcock (Scolopax rusticola) is a nocturnal woodland bird. The eastern dowitcher, Limnodromus griseus, also called the red-breasted, or robin, snipe, frequents mud flats and shores, as does the long-billed dowitcher of W North America and South America (rare on the Atlantic coast). The European common snipe, found also in Asia and Africa, is similar to the Wilson's snipe. Snipes are classified in the phylum Chordata Chordata (kôrdā`tə,–dä`–)
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, subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Charadriiformes, family Scolopacidae.

snipe

Enlarge picture
Common snipe (Gallinago gallinago).
(credit: Ingmar Holmasen)
Any of about 20 species of birds (family Scolopacidae) that frequent wet meadows and marshes in temperate and warm regions worldwide. They are short-legged and chunky, with brown, black, and white stripes and bars. The wings are pointed and angular. The long, flexible bill is used to probe mud for worms. The common snipe (Gallinago gallinago) is about 12 in. (30 cm) long, including the bill.


snipe
1. any of various birds of the genus Gallinago (or Capella) and related genera, such as G. gallinago (common or Wilson's snipe), of marshes and river banks, having a long straight bill: family Scolopacidae (sandpipers, etc.), order Charadriiformes
2. any of various similar related birds, such as certain sandpipers and curlews


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Ere long, he returned with half a dozen wild ducks and a kind of snipe, which Joe served up in his best style.
The Honourable Wilmot Snipe, and other distinguished gentlemen crowded to render homage to the Misses Clubber; and Sir Thomas Clubber stood bolt upright, and looked majestically over his black kerchief at the assembled company.
"There must be snipe too," he thought, and just as he reached the turning homewards he met the forest keeper, who confirmed his theory about the snipe.
 
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