plover Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun any of numerous chiefly shorebirds of relatively compact build having straight bills and large pointed wings; closely related to the sandpipers

WordNet

Plov"er noun
Etymology
OF. plovier, F. pluvier, prop., the rain bird, fr. LL. (assumed) pluviarius, fr. L. pluvia rain, from pluere to rain; akin to E. float, G. fliessen to flow. See Float.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species of limicoline birds belonging to the family Charadridæ, and especially those belonging to the subfamily Charadrinsæ. They are prized as game birds.
  2. (Zoöl.) Any grallatorial bird allied to, or resembling, the true plovers, as the crab plover (Dromas ardeola); the American upland, plover (Bartramia longicauda); and other species of sandpipers. ✍ Among the more important species are the blackbellied, ∨ blackbreasted, plover (Charadrius squatarola) of America and Europe; -- called also gray plover, bull-head plover, Swiss plover, sea plover, and oxeye; the golden plover (see under Golden); the ring ∨ ringed plover (Ægialitis hiaticula). See Ringneck. The piping plover (Ægialitis meloda); Wilson's plover (Æ. Wilsonia); the mountain plover (Æ. montana); and the semipalmated plover (Æ. semipalmata), are all small American species.

Webster 1913