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dotterel

dotterel is defined in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1913) with 2 senses. The full text of each entry is reproduced verbatim below.

Definitions

  1. 1.(Zoöl.) A European bird of the Plover family (Eudromias, or 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. 2.A silly fellow; a dupe; a gull. Barrow.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

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