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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Dotterel

Dotterel \Dot"ter*el\, a. [Cf. Dottard.] Decayed. ``Some old dotterel trees.'' [Obs.]
--Ascham.

Dotterel

Dotterel \Dot"ter*el\, n. [From Dote, v. i.]

  1. (Zo["o]l.) A European bird of the Plover family ( Eudromias morinellus, syn. Charadrius morinellus). It is tame and easily taken, and is popularly believed to imitate the movements of the fowler.

    In catching of dotterels we see how the foolish bird playeth the ape in gestures.
    --Bacon.

    Note: The ringed dotterel (or ring plover) is Charadrius hiaticula.

  2. A silly fellow; a dupe; a gull.
    --Barrow.

Wiktionary
dotterel

a. decayed n. 1 Any of various small birds in the plover family Charadriidae, and sometimes used interchangeably with "plover". 2 A gullible fool.

WordNet
dotterel

n. rare plover of upland areas of Eurasia [syn: dotrel, Charadrius morinellus, Eudromias morinellus]

Wikipedia
Dotterel (disambiguation)

Dotterel may refer to several species within the plover family of wading birds Charadriidae. In Europe, the unqualified name generally refers to the Eurasian dotterel (Charadrius morinellus).

Other species whose common name includes dotterel are:

  • Black-fronted dotterel (Elseyornis melanops)
  • Hooded dotterel (Thinornis cucullatus)
  • Inland dotterel (Peltohyas australis)
  • Red-kneed dotterel (Erythrogonys cinctus)
  • Shore dotterel (Thinornis novaeseelandiae)
  • Tawny-throated dotterel (Oreopholus ruficollis)

Usage examples of "dotterel".

Ptarmigan and dotterel clucked contentedly in the heath and silver-studded blue butterflies fed upon its honey-scented nectar.

Theodoric would have done better to send that drooling dotterel Severinus.

And I had to concede that Audefleda was neither a frivolous little dotterel nor an overbearing young virago.

A flock of dotterels bobbing, bowing, skipping, and shouldering one another may be merely practising some evolution with serious intent, though it is far more natural to conclude that the frail little birds are in holiday humour.

Among the myriad colonies of close-set mussels, which gave a blue bloom, like that of the sloe, to the weed-covered boulders, a few kittiwakes and dotterels flitted to and fro.

A flock of dotterels bobbing, bowing, skipping, and shouldering one another may be merely practising some evolution with serious intent, though it is far more natural to conclude that the frail little birds are in holiday humour.