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What does quail mean?

Definitions for quail
kweɪlquail

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word quail.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. quailnoun

    flesh of quail; suitable for roasting or broiling if young; otherwise must be braised

  2. quailverb

    small gallinaceous game birds

  3. flinch, squinch, funk, cringe, shrink, wince, recoil, quailverb

    draw back, as with fear or pain

    "she flinched when they showed the slaughtering of the calf"

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Quailnoun

    A bird of game.

    Etymology: quaglia, Italian.

    His quails ever
    Beat mine, in-hoop’d at odds. William Shakespeare, Ant. and Cleop.

    Hen birds have a peculiar sort of voice, when they would call the male, which is so eminent in quails, that men, by counterfeiting this voice with a quail pipe, easily drew the cocks into their snares. John Ray, on the Creation.

    A fresher gale
    Sweeping with shadowy gust the field of corn,
    While the quail clamours for his running mate. James Thomson.

  2. To Quailverb

    To crush; to quell; to depress; to sink; to overpower.

    Etymology: cwellan , Saxon.

    To drive him to despair, and quite to quail,
    He shewed him painted in a table plain
    The damned ghosts. Fairy Queen, b. i.

    Three, with fi’ry courage, he assails;
    Three, all as kings adorn’d in royal wise:
    And each successive after other quails,
    Still wond’ring whence so many kings should rise. Daniel.

  3. To Quailverb

    To languish; to sink into dejection; to lose spirit. Edmund Spenser

    Etymology: quelen, Dutch.

    He writes there is no quailing now;
    Because the king is certainly possest
    Of all our purposes. William Shakespeare, Henry IV. p. i.

    This may plant courage in their quailing breasts,
    For yet is hope of life and victory. William Shakespeare.

    After Solyman had with all his power in vain besieged Rhodes, his haughty courage began to quail, so that he was upon point to have raised his siege. Richard Knolles.

    While rocks stand,
    And rivers stir, thou can’st not shrink or quail;
    Yea, when both rocks and all things shall disband,
    Then shalt thou be my rock and tower. George Herbert.

    When Dido’s ghost appear’d,
    It made this hardy warriour quail. Wandering Pr. of Troy.

    At this the errant’s courage quails. John Cleveland.

    To pass the quailing and withering of all things by the recess, and their reviving by the recess of the sun, the sap in trees precisely follows the motion of the sun. George Hakewill.

Wikipedia

  1. Quail

    Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally placed in the order Galliformes. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey, or bevy.Old World quail are placed in the family Phasianidae, and New World quail are placed in the family Odontophoridae. The species of buttonquail are named for their superficial resemblance to quail, and form the family Turnicidae in the order Charadriiformes. The king quail, an Old World quail, often is sold in the pet trade, and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption, and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. In 2007, 40 million quail were produced in the U.S.

ChatGPT

  1. quail

    A quail is a small short-tailed game bird, known for its distinct call and typically found in the countryside or wild areas. There are several different species of quails belonging to the pheasant family, often kept or hunted for their eggs and meat. It can also be used as a verb in English language to describe the action of showing fear or apprehension.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Quailverb

    to die; to perish; hence, to wither; to fade

  2. Quailverb

    to become quelled; to become cast down; to sink under trial or apprehension of danger; to lose the spirit and power of resistance; to lose heart; to give way; to shrink; to cower

  3. Quailverb

    to cause to fail in spirit or power; to quell; to crush; to subdue

  4. Quailverb

    to curdle; to coagulate, as milk

  5. Quailnoun

    any gallinaceous bird belonging to Coturnix and several allied genera of the Old World, especially the common European quail (C. communis), the rain quail (C. Coromandelica) of India, the stubble quail (C. pectoralis), and the Australian swamp quail (Synoicus australis)

  6. Quailnoun

    any one of several American partridges belonging to Colinus, Callipepla, and allied genera, especially the bobwhite (called Virginia quail, and Maryland quail), and the California quail (Calipepla Californica)

  7. Quailnoun

    any one of numerous species of Turnix and allied genera, native of the Old World, as the Australian painted quail (Turnix varius). See Turnix

  8. Quailnoun

    a prostitute; -- so called because the quail was thought to be a very amorous bird

  9. Etymology: [OF. quaille, F. caille, LL. quaquila, qualia, qualea, of Dutch or German origin; cf. D. kwakkel, kwartel, OHG. wahtala, G. wachtel.]

Wikidata

  1. Quail

    Quail is a collective name for several genera of mid-sized birds generally considered in the order Galliformes. Old World quail are found in the family Phasianidae, and New World quail are found in the family Odontophoridae. The buttonquail are named more for their superficial resemblance to quail, and are members of the Turnicidae family in the Charadriiformes order. The King Quail, one of the Old World quail, is often sold in the pet trade; and within this trade is commonly, though mistakenly, referred to as a "button quail". Many of the common larger species are farm-raised for table food or egg consumption, and are hunted on game farms or in the wild, where they may be released to supplement the wild population, or extend into areas outside their natural range. The collective noun for a group of quail is a flock, covey or bevy.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Quail

    kwāl, v.i. to cower: to fail in spirit: (Shak.) to slacken.—v.t. to subdue: to terrify.—n. Quail′ing (Shak.), act of one who quails: a failing in courage. [A.S. cwelan, to die; Ger. quälen, to suffer.]

  2. Quail

    kwāl, n. a small gallinaceous bird, related to the partridge family: (Shak.) a whore.—ns. Quail′-call, -pipe, a call for alluring quails into a net. [O. Fr. quaille—Low L. quaquila—Old Dut. quakele; cf. Low Ger. quackel, and Quack.]

U.S. National Library of Medicine

  1. Quail

    Common name for two distinct groups of BIRDS in the order GALLIFORMES: the New World or American quails of the family Odontophoridae and the Old World quails in the genus COTURNIX, family Phasianidae.

The Foolish Dictionary, by Gideon Wurdz

  1. QUAIL

    v. t., To shrink--a characteristic of the bird when ordered in a restaurant.

Surnames Frequency by Census Records

  1. QUAIL

    According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Quail is ranked #21459 in terms of the most common surnames in America.

    The Quail surname appeared 1,218 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 would have the surname Quail.

    86.3% or 1,052 total occurrences were White.
    7.5% or 92 total occurrences were Black.
    2.4% or 30 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
    1.3% or 16 total occurrences were of two or more races.
    1.1% or 14 total occurrences were Asian.
    1.1% or 14 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

Anagrams for quail »

  1. quila

How to pronounce quail?

How to say quail in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of quail in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of quail in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Popularity rank by frequency of use

quail#10000#22782#100000

References

Translations for quail

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"quail." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/quail>.

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