quail
noun · verb
Simple meaning
Any of different small game birds of the genera Coturnix.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kwaylIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈkweɪl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
uncountable
The meat from this bird eaten as food.
Small gallinaceous game birds
verb
intransitive
To lose heart or courage; to be daunted or fearful.
intransitive
Of courage, faith, etc.: to slacken, to give way.
intransitive
To waste away; to fade, to wither.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The meat from this bird eaten as food.
Used this way, quail is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Anticipate with dread or anxiety.
Spiny shrub with silvery-scurfy foliage of alkaline plains of southwestern United States and Mexico.
Spiny shrub with silvery-scurfy foliage of alkaline plains of southwestern United States and Mexico.
Small quail-like terrestrial bird of southern Eurasia and northern Africa that lacks a hind toe.
Small quail-like terrestrial bird of southern Eurasia and northern Africa that lacks a hind toe.
Plump chunky bird of coastal California and Oregon.
Related Words
Connected to the same idea, not synonyms.
- waterfowlnoun
- pheasantnoun
- woodpeckernoun
- fowlnoun
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “quail” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.