whimbrel
/ˈʍɪmbɹɜl/noun
whimbrel is a noun meaning “A large migratory wading bird, Numenius phaeopus, of the family Scolopacidae, with a long downcurved bill” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled W-H-I-M-B-R-E-L, and it appears about once in every 32 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data). The plural of whimbrel is whimbrels.
What does whimbrel mean?
noun
- 1
A large migratory wading bird, Numenius phaeopus, of the family Scolopacidae, with a long downcurved bill.
Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plov
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce whimbrel?
- /ˈʍɪmbɹɜl/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-whimbrel.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of whimbrel
- whimbrels plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is whimbrel?
Whimbrel appears about once in every 32 million words in written English, the 173,967th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Whimbrel in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a large wading bird, Numenius phaeopus:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | courlis corlieu |
| German | Regenbrachvogel |
| Portuguese | maçarico-galego |
| Spanish | zarapito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does whimbrel come from?
Uncertain. Perhaps from whimper + -el, alluding to the sound of its cry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).