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r of resistance; to lose heart; to give way; to shrink; to cower. The atheist power shall quail, and confess his fears. I. Taylor. Stouter hearts than a woman's have quailed in this terrible winter. Longfellow.

The upland plover. [Canadian]

The turnstone.

To throw sticls at cocks; to throw anything about awkwardly or irregularly. [Prov. Eng.] Southey.

at all. Mine old good will and hearty affection towards you is not . . . anything at all quailed. Robynson (More's Utopia).

A flock of birds, especially quails or larks; also, a herd of roes.

To shrink; to start back; to draw back, from lack of courage or resolution; to flinch; to quail. Blench not at thy chosen lot. Bryant. This painful, heroic task he undertook, and never blenched from its fulfillment. Jeffrey.

The American quail or bobwhite. The name is also applied to other related species. See Bobwhite.

To stoop by bending the knees; to crouch; to squat; hence, to quail; to sink through fear. Our dame sits cowering o'er a kitchen fire. Dryden. Like falcons, cowering on the nest. Goldsmith.

An order of birds, including the common domestic fowls, pheasants, grouse, quails, and allied forms; -- sometimes called Rasores.

y of game taken. -- Game bird, any bird commonly shot for food, esp. grouse, partridges, quails, pheasants, wild turkeys, and the shore or wading birds, such as plovers, snipe, woodcock, curlew, and sandpipers. The term is sometimes arbitrarily restricted to birds hunted by sportsmen, with dogs and guns. -- Game egg,…

A resting place. [Obs.] These quails have their set gists; to wit, ordinary resting and baiting places. Holland.

on. As I could learn through earnest inquisition. Latimer. Let not search and inquisition quail To bring again these foolish runaways. Shak.

To nestle or collect together in a covey; -- said of quails and partridges.

s with roundish leaves, growing in wet places; - - called also water pennywort. -- Marsh quail (Zoöl.), the meadow lark. -- Marsh rosemary (Bot.), a plant of the genus Statice (S. Limonium), common in salt marshes. Its root is powerfully astringent, and is sometimes used in medicine. Called also sea lavender. -- Mar…

n unbranched palmlike stem, and a terminal cluster of large, pinnate leaves. -- Mountain quail (Zoöl.), the plumed partridge (Oreortyx pictus) of California. It has two long, slender, plumelike feathers on the head. The throat and sides are chestnut; the belly is brown with transverse bars of black and white; the neck…

several species of East Indian birds of the genera Ortygis and Hemipodius. They resemble quails, but lack the hind toe. See Turnix.

Any one of several species of quail-like birds belonging to Colinus, and allied genera. [U.S.]

led also horned viper and hornsman. -- Plumed partridge (Zoöl.), the California mountain quail (Oreortyx pictus). See Mountain quail, under Mountain.

p. p. of Quail. [Obs.] Spenser.