wag·tail

(wăg′tāl′)

Any of various chiefly Eurasian or African insectivorous birds of the family Motacillidae, having a slender body with a long tail that constantly wags.

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.

wagtail

(ˈwæɡˌteɪl)

(Animals) any of various passerine songbirds of the genera Motacilla and Dendronanthus, of Eurasia and Africa, having a very long tail that wags when the bird walks: family Motacillidae

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

wag•tail

(ˈwægˌteɪl)

n.

1. any of various slim, usu. boldly patterned songbirds of the family Motacillidae, mainly of Eurasia and Africa, having a long tail that wags up and down when the bird is still.

2. any of several similar birds, as the water thrushes of the genus Seiurus.

[1500–10]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

wagtail - Old World bird having a very long tail that jerks up and down as it walks

oscine, oscine bird - passerine bird having specialized vocal apparatus

genus Motacilla, Motacilla - type genus of the Motacillidae: wagtails

Translations

wagtail

[ˈwægteɪl] N → lavandera f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

wagtail

[ˈwægteɪl] n → bergeronnette f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

wagtail

n (Orn) → Bachstelze f

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

wagtail

[ˈwægˌteɪl] n (Zool) → ballerina
grey wagtail → ballerina gialla

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

All at once he turned round to Claude with the agile quickness of a wagtail.

View in context

"The primary driver to the lower production was the slower than anticipated ramp-up in mining at Wagtail North in the latter part of the quarter.

Pantoro completes transformative Central Norseman gold acquisition and starts work

The propensity to play may however, not be one of the essential attributes of wagtails, yet this clan, most notably in the form of the pied wagtail, are to me naturally comedic birds in appearance, the "Coco the Clown" of the avian world.

Movement of wagtail may be marking of territory

LORD Barry, president of Flintshire in Business, paid a visit to Wagtail UK at Halkyn Hall.

Lord Barry drops in at award-winning business

It didn't really look like a pied wagtail, which are black-and-white, but the fledgling was a browny-grey, with only a black bib giving away its pied wagtailness.

It's wonderful to see fledgling wagtails learning how to fly

BIRD NOTES With Julian Hughes | White Wagtail PICTURE: HENRY COOK WHITE Wagtails are the mainland European counterpart to our Pied Wagtails and can be found on coastal saltmarsh in April.

BIRD NOTES

While, kalij pheasant, tree pipit, wagtail, kingfisher, spotted owlet, spotted dove and Indian roller were scarce in numbers.

Short Communication - Distribution and Habitat Use of Avian Fauna of Rawalakot City and its Surroundings, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan

A trip to Fayoum leads to naturalist Richard Hoath's first sighting of the illusive Grey Wagtail.

Trip To Fayoum Yields First Sighting Of Grey Wagtail

SPEEDING WARS ITV, 9.00pm Police in Essex try to stop the extreme speeders who race at more than 100mph on public roads at Lakeside, going under cover in Operation Wagtail to improve one of the most notorious areas in the county.

BEST OF THE BOX

Among the migratory birds are Siberian cranes, greater flamingo, black winged stilt, common teal, common greenshank, northern pintail, yellow wagtail and white wagtail, who arrive every year along with domestic avian species such as common hoopoe, purple sunbird, little cormorant, little egret and white ibis.

City to get foreign help to bring in migratory birds

Which variety of wagtail has a white underbody with black and white wings?

QUIZ OF THE DAY