Snipe \Snipe\, n. [OE. snipe; akin to D. snep, snip, LG. sneppe,
   snippe, G. schnepfe, Icel. sn[imac]pa (in comp.), Dan.
   sneppe, Sw. sn[aum]ppa a sanpiper, and possibly to E. snap.
   See {Snap}, {Snaffle}.]
   1. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline game
      birds of the family {Scolopacidae}, having a long,
      slender, nearly straight beak.
      
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   Note: The common, or whole, snipe ({Gallinago coelestis})
         and the great, or double, snipe ({Gallinago major}),
         are the most important European species. The Wilson's
         snipe ({Gallinago delicata}) (sometimes erroneously
         called {English snipe}) and the gray snipe, or
         dowitcher ({Macrohamphus griseus}), are well-known
         American species.
         
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   2. A fool; a blockhead. [R.] --Shak.
      
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   {Half snipe}, the dunlin; the jacksnipe.

   {Jack snipe}. See {Jacksnipe}.

   {Quail snipe}. See under {Quail}.

   {Robin snipe}, the knot.

   {Sea snipe}. See in the Vocabulary.

   {Shore snipe}, any sandpiper.

   {Snipe hawk}, the marsh harrier. [Prov. Eng.]

   {Stone snipe}, the tattler.

   {Summer snipe}, the dunlin; the green and the common European
      sandpipers.

   {Winter snipe}. See {Rock snipe}, under {Rock}.

   {Woodcock snipe}, the great snipe.
      
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Woodcock \Wood"cock`\, n. [AS. wuducoc.]
   
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   1. (Zool.) Any one of several species of long-billed
      limicoline birds belonging to the genera {Scolopax} and
      {Philohela}. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits,
      and are highly esteemed as game birds.
      
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   Note: The most important species are the European ({Scolopax  rusticola}) and the American woodcock ({Philohela  minor}), which agree very closely in appearance and
         habits.
         
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   2. Fig.: A simpleton. [Obs.]
      
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            If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see
            you
            Run your neck into the noose, and cry, "A woodcock!"
                                                  --Beau. & Fl.
      
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   {Little woodcock}.
      (a) The common American snipe.
      (b) The European snipe.

   {Sea woodcock fish}, the bellows fish.

   {Woodcock owl}, the short-eared owl ({Asio brachyotus}).

   {Woodcock shell}, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus
      {Murex}, having a very long canal, with or without spines.
      

   {Woodcock snipe}. See under {Snipe}.
      
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