noun pl. woodcocks or woodcock
- a migratory European shorebird (Scolopax rusticola) with short legs and a long bill, of the same family (Scolopacidae) as snipe: it is hunted as game
- ☆ a smaller game bird (Philohela minor) of the same family that frequents bogs and swampy places of E North America
- Obsolete a fool; dupe
Origin:
ME wodekoc < OE wuducoc < wudu, wood + coc, a cock