The DICT Development Group

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The common, or whole, snipe ({Gallinago c[oe]lestis)
           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.
        [1913 Webster]

  Woodcock \Wood"cock`\, n. [AS. wuducoc.]
     [1913 Webster]
     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 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.
        [1913 Webster]

  woodcock snipe
      n 1: Old World snipe larger and darker than the whole snipe
           [syn: great snipe, woodcock snipe, Gallinago media]
      2: small long-billed woodcock; prized as a game bird [syn:
         American woodcock, woodcock snipe, Philohela minor]