today's word.a.day is so cute

Coleridge had his albatross, Poe his raven; Shelley had his skylark, Keats his nightingale. And we have barely begun to explore the literary aviary.

Here at A.Word.A.Day we love all our feathery friends. They have their songs, but we are partial to the words they give us: canard (from duck) tokibitzer (from lapwing) to gossamer (from goose) and beyond.

This week we’ll look at five other words that are derived from birds. Call them bird words.

Photo: Sindri Skúlason

snipe 

MEANING:

noun:
1. Any of various long-billed birds inhabiting marshy areas.
2. A shot from a concealed position.

Yesterday's word:

Photo: David Eccles

                                              gannet

                                                     MEANING:

                                                   noun:
               1. A large seabird known for catching fish by diving from a height.
               2. A greedy person.

“Michael Buerk -- I am afraid there is no delicate way to put this -- is a gannet. He steals the very food from your plate. I recall one meal when he had polished off his own steak while I was eating rather more delicately. ‘Don’t you want the rest of that?’ he asked. And before I could answer, it was gone. -Broadcaster John Humphrys.”
The Things They Say...; The Western Morning News (Plymouth, UK); Dec 8, 2014.