goat·suck·er

(gōt′sŭk′ər)

[Translation of Greek aigothēlās : aigo-, goat + -thēlās, sucker (from the belief that the bird sucked milk from goats).]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

goatsucker

(ˈɡəʊtˌsʌkə)

(Animals) US and Canadian any nocturnal bird of the family Caprimulgidae, esp Caprimulgus europaeus (European nightjar): order Caprimulgiformes.. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): nightjar

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

goat•suck•er

(ˈgoʊtˌsʌk ər)

n.

any of numerous insect-eating, mostly nocturnal birds of the family Caprimulgidae, of nearly worldwide distribution, including nightjars and nighthawks.

[1605–15; translation of Latin caprimulgus, itself translation of Greek aigothḗlas]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

goatsucker - mainly crepuscular or nocturnal nonpasserine birds with mottled greyish-brown plumage and large eyes; feed on insects

caprimulgid, nightjar

caprimulgiform bird - long-winged nonpasserine birds

Caprimulgidae, family Caprimulgidae - goatsuckers

Caprimulgus europaeus, European goatsucker, European nightjar - Old World goatsucker

Caprimulgus carolinensis, chuck-will's-widow - large whippoorwill-like bird of the southern United States

Caprimulgus vociferus, whippoorwill - American nocturnal goatsucker with grey-and-white plumage

bullbat, mosquito hawk, nighthawk - mainly nocturnal North American goatsucker

Phalaenoptilus nuttallii, poorwill - goatsucker of western North America

Translations

козодой

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

The evening was calm and still; -- the shrill noise of the mountain bizcacha, and the faint cry of a goatsucker, were occasionally to be heard.

View in context

Goat imagery recurs in other poems like "Goatsucker" and "The Net-Menders", which suggests that the writer found in this motif an adequate trope for tragic resilience.

Plath's Spanish poems and tropes: Turning landscape into mindscape

"Goatsuckers, Nadders and Other Beasties" is a reference to the quirky names given to various forms of wildlife, with the "goatsucker" being the rare night-flying bird the nightjar, and the "nadder" an alternative name for the venomous adder.

It's animal magic at exhibition

It was several such southbound birds foraging for insects on a North Fork farm on a late September afternoon that completed the year's goatsucker trifecta for me.

Goatsuckers of New York

Thursday - Goatsucker and woodcock walk, Bolton Flats and Pine Hill WMA, Lancaster, 7:30 p.m., free.

It's a season of changes

The existence of the chupacabras, also known as the goatsucker, was first surmised from livestock attacks in Puerto Rico, where dead sheep were discovered with puncture wounds, completely drained of blood.

'Goatsucker' chupacabras monster 'is as much victim as villain'

Stealing many scenes in particular, a tiny Chupakabra, or goatsucker, named Pearl flits about, a passionate and fierce Tinkerbell with attitude and a stinger.

Boylan, Jennifer Finney. Falcon Quinn and the Black Mirror

That led to the less than flattering nickname of "goatsucker" in many country areas.

MAGICAL RETURN; Environment

Monster Spotter's Guide to North America is an exciting field guide to more than one hundred mythical (or are they?) and folklore monsters reputed to roam the North American continent, from the Sasquatch of the Pacific Northwest to the hideous Mexican goatsucker called El Chupacabra.

Monster Spotter's Guide to North America

The nocturnal bird was once widely known throughout Europe as the goatsucker, because of a bizarre belief that it drank the milk of domestic livestock in the night

The nightjar graces Midland skies again

In many country areas the nightjar was known as the "goatsucker" for its supposed magical ability to steal milk, and the bird is now protected by countryside law and is a priority species under European law, making it illegal to kill or injure a nightjar, take its eggs or damage its nest.

Joy as birds make return

Centered around extended metonymies representing human condition and situations, the poems are centered around living or mythical creatures such as carp and the chupacabras (literally, "goatsucker," a diabolical night creature).

Virgil Suarez. Palm Crows