grayback

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a dowitcher with a grey back
noun a sandpiper that breeds in the Arctic and winters in the southern hemisphere

From gray + back.

Then a grayback cleared us out, then the skipper laughed; “Boys, the wheel has gone to Hell--rig the winches aft! — The Works of Rudyard Kipling: One Volume Edition, Rudyard Kipling
We've got the edge on 'em now, since Vicksburg and Gettysburg, but the Graybacks are not yet beaten by a long shot. — The Rock of Chickamauga: A Story of the Western Crisis, Joseph A. (Joseph Alexander) Altsheler
He thinks he's a Sheol of a farmer; thinks he's old Grayback from Wayback; but between you and me privately he don't know as much about farming as he does about running a kingdom--still, whatever he talks about, you want to drop your underjaw and listen, the same as if you had never heard such incredible wisdom in all your life before, and were afraid you might die before you got enough of it. — A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Mark Twain

greyback, Limnodromus griseus

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning