First Known Use: 14th century
Dictionary
curlew
noun cur·lew \ˈkər-(ˌ)lü, ˈkərl-(ˌ)yü\
: a large brown bird with long legs and a long thin bill that lives near the water
plural curlews or curlew
Full Definition of CURLEW
: any of various largely brownish chiefly migratory birds (especially genus Numenius) having long legs and a long slender down-curved bill and related to the sandpipers and snipes
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Origin of CURLEW
Middle English, from Anglo-French curleu, of imitative origin
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