WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Plov"er
Part of Speech : n.
Etymology : [OF. plovier, F. pluvier, prop., the rain bird, fr. LL. (assumed) pluviarius, fr. L. pluvia rain, from pluere to rain; akin to E. float, G. fliessen to flow. See Float.]
Definition : 1. (Zo?l.)

Defn: Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds belonging to the family Charadrid?, and especially those belonging to the subfamily Charadrins?. They are prized as game birds.

2. (Zo?l.)

Defn: Any grallatorial bird allied to, or resembling, the true plovers, as the crab plover (Dromas ardeola); the American upland, plover (Bartramia longicauda); and other species of sandpipers.

Note: Among the more important species are the blackbellied, or blackbreasted, plover (Charadrius squatarola) of America and Europe; -- called also gray plover, bull-head plover, Swiss plover, sea plover, and oxeye; the golden plover (see under Golden); the ring or ringed plover (?gialitis hiaticula). See Ringneck. The piping plover (?gialitis meloda); Wilson's plover (?. Wilsonia); the mountain plover (?. montana); and the semipalmated plover (?. semipalmata), are all small American species. Bastard plover (Zo?l.), the lapwing. -- Long-legged, or yellow-legged, plover. See Tattler. -- Plover's page, the dunlin. [Prov. Eng.] -- Rock plover, or Stone plover, the black-bellied plover. [Prov. Eng.] -- Whistling plover. (a) The golden plover. (b) The black-bellied plover.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913