partridge Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun flesh of either quail or grouse
  2. noun heavy-bodied small-winged South American game bird resembling a gallinaceous bird but related to the ratite birds
    tinamou.
  3. noun small Old World gallinaceous game birds
  4. noun a popular North American game bird; named for its call
    bobwhite quail; bobwhite.
  5. noun valued as a game bird in eastern United States and Canada
    Bonasa umbellus; ruffed grouse.

WordNet

Par"tridge noun
Etymology
OE. partriche, pertriche, OF. pertris, perdriz, F. perdrix, L. perdix, -icis, fr. Gr. .
Definitions
(Zoöl.)
  1. Any one of numerous species of small gallinaceous birds of the genus Perdix and several related genera of the family Perdicidæ, of the Old World. The partridge is noted as a game bird.
    Full many a fat partrich had he in mew. Chaucer.
    ✍ The common European, or gray, partridge (Perdix cinerea) and the red-legged partridge (Caccabis rubra) of Southern Europe and Asia are well-known species.
  2. Any one of several species of quail-like birds belonging to Colinus, and allied genera. U.S. ✍ Among them are the bobwhite (Colinus Virginianus) of the Eastern States; the plumed, or mountain, partridge (Oreortyx pictus) of California; the Massena partridge (Cyrtonyx Montezumæ); and the California partridge (Callipepla Californica).
  3. The ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus). New Eng.

Webster 1913