lapwing

noun

Etymology: From Middle English lapwynge, lapwynke, lappewincke, lapwynche, lhapwynche, from Old English hlēapewince (“lapwing”), from Old English hlēapan (“to leap”) + wincian (“to wink, make a sign”), due to its manner of flight. Cognate with West Frisian ljip (“lapwing”). The modern form is influenced by folk etymology to resemble English wing.

1. Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.

   “Plovers and lapwings are a large, virtually worldwide family that differs from sandpipers in, among other things, having a shorter, thicker, pigeonlike bill and more robust proportions.”

   “The resident tropical plovers have much less pointed wings, and most of the lapwings have fairly rounded wing-tips, a wing shape apparently more adapted to aerial manoeuvrability than to long-distance migration.”

2. Any of several medium-sized wading birds belonging to the subfamily Vanellinae, within family Charadriidae.
3. A silly man.

   “This lapwing runs away with the shell on his head.”