▪ I. quail, n.
(kweɪl)
Forms: 4 quaille, 4–5 quaylle, 4–6 quayle, 4–7 quaile, 5 qwayle, qwyle, 6 quale, Sc. qua(i)lȝe, (7 -ȝie), 6– quail.
[a. OF. quaille (F. caille) = Prov. calha, It. quaglia, OSp. coalla, med.L. qualia, qualea and quaquila, quacula; the source is prob. Teutonic, cf. MDu., MLG. quackele (Du. kwakkel) and OHG. quatala, of imitative origin.]
1. A migratory bird allied to the partridge (family Perdicidæ), found in the Old World and Australia; esp. the European species, Coturnix communis or dactylisonans, the flesh of which is much esteemed for the table.
The Australian quails are chiefly hemipods (Turnix), esp. the painted quail, T. varius, or Hemipodius melinatus. The single New Zealand species (Coturnix Novæ-Zelandiæ) is now extinct.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. B. 1084, I stod as stylle as dased quayle. c 1386 Chaucer Clerk's T. 1150 Thou shalt make him couche as doth a quaille. 1444 Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 219 Geyn Phebus uprist syngen wyl the quaylle. 1535 Coverdale Exod. xvi. 13 At euen the quayles came vp. ― Ps. civ. 40 At their desyre, there came quales. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions i. v. 53 Quaill, and mallard, are not but for the richer sorte. 1601 Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. (1631) 284 The fighting game at Quailes was Anthonies overthrowe. 1684 Otway Atheist i. i, Do you dispise your own Manna..and long after Quails? 1727–46 Thomson Summer 1657 While the quail clamours for his running mate. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 212 The quail is by all known to be a bird of passage. 1846 Stokes Disc. Australia II. vii. 259 It is known to the colonists as the Painted Quail. 1870 Morris Earthly Par. III. iv. 296 Close within the long grass lies the quail. |
2. dial. a. The corn-crake. (First
quot. dub.)
| c 1470 Henryson Mor. Fab. viii. (Preach. Swallow) xxiii, The quailȝe craikand in the corne. 1881 Leicest. Gloss., Quail, the land-rail or corn-crake. |
b. The small spotted water-hen.
| 1766 Pennant Brit. Zool. (1768) II. 504 In Lincolnshire it is known by the name of quail. |
3. One of several American gallinaceous birds resembling the European quail,
esp. the Virginian quail or colin (
Ortyx virginianus), and the Californian or crested quail (
Lophortyx californicus).
| 1817–8 Cobbett Resid. U.S. (1822) 43, Chickens..as big as American Partridges (misnamed quails). 1840 Penny Cycl. XVII. 440 Ortyx Virginianus,..the Quail of the inhabitants of New England, the Partridge of the Pennsylvanians. 1861 G. F. Berkeley Sportsm. W. Prairies xi. 185 A brace of what the Americans call quail. |
† 4. fig. A courtesan.
Obs. (So F.
caille coiffée.)
An allusion to the supposed amorous disposition of the bird: see the passages cited by Nares.
| 1606 Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 57 Heere's Agamemnon,..one that loues Quails. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. Prol. (1737) 83 Several coated Quails, and lac'd Mutton. |
5. U.S. slang. A girl, a young woman.
| 1859 Yale Lit. Mag. XXIV. 291 (Th.), [The Freshman] heareth of ‘Quails’, he dresseth himself in fine linen, he seeketh to flirt with ye ‘quails’. 1901 Dialect Notes II. 146 Quail, a young lady student at co-educational institution. Wesleyan Univ. 1904 Hartford (Connecticut) Courant 4 Oct. 1 Because she was hazed by the young women students at Wesleyan, one ‘quail’, as the boys call them, who was a freshman here last year did not return to Wesleyan this fall. 1935 J. Hargan Gloss. Prison Lang. 6 Quail, a girl. 1935 A. J. Pollock Underworld Speaks 93/1 Quail, an attractive girl, not of age. 1947 Time 6 Oct. 68/1 A less active sport is ‘piping the flock’, when Cal males watch Cal ‘quails’ preening in the sun on the steps of Wheeler Hall. 1970 Women Speaking Apr. 5/1 For any woman..man has a strange conglomeration of terms:..quail, squab, [etc.]. |
6. attrib. and
Comb., as
quail-bagger,
quail-bagging,
quail-basket,
quail-feeding,
quail-fight,
quail-fighter,
quail-fighting,
quail-net,
quail-pit,
quail-potage,
quail-shot,
quail-time,
quail-track,
quail-trap, etc.;
quail-surfeited adj.;
quail-call = quail-pipe;
quail-dove, a dove of the West Indies and Florida (
Starnœnas cyanocephalus);
quail-hawk, a New Zealand species of falcon;
quail-pigeon, a pigeon of the genus
Geophaps;
quail-snipe, a South American plover of the genus
Thinocorys. Also
quail-pipe.
| 1879 Harper's Mag. Oct. 703 The..advice offered by a circle of *quail-baggers and other by-standers. |
| Ibid., The conclusion that a *quail-bagging expedition was regarded as an event of considerable importance. |
| 1598 Florio, Quagliere,..a *quaile basket. |
| 1822 D. Booth Analyt. Dict. i. 99 A Quailpipe or *Quailcall. 1884 Encycl. Brit. XX. 147/1 In old days they were taken in England in a net, attracted thereto by means of a Quail call. |
| 1820 T. Mitchell Aristoph. I. p. lxiii, When a mania took place in Athens..for *quail-feeding or philosophy. |
| 1581 Mulcaster Positions xviii. (1887) 78 Cokfights and *quaile⁓fightes. |
| 1836–48 B. D. Walsh Aristoph., Acharnians i. iv. note, The Athenians..were great cock-fighters and *quail⁓fighters. |
| 1776 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1790) V. 214 *Quailfighting was a favourite amusement among the Athenians. |
| 1873 Buller Birds N. Zeal. (1888) I. 217 The *Quail-Hawk exhibits great perseverance in pursuit of its prey. |
| 1598 Florio, Quagliera, a *quaile-net. |
| 1879 Mrs. A. G. F. E. James Ind. Househ. Managem. 56 Quails..kept in your own *quail⁓pit and well fed. |
| 1725 Bradley Fam. Dict. s.v. Quail, You may also have a *Quail-Potage in the Form of an Oil. |
| 1865 ‘Mark Twain’ in N.Y. Saturday Press 18 Nov. 249/2 He got the frog out..and filled him full of *quail-shot. |
| 1649 G. Daniel Trinarch., Hen. V, cxxv, And hang a Nose to Leekes, *Quaile-Surfetted. |
| 1897 Outing XXX. 94/2 Ever since last *quail-time I have been casting rather dubious glances at a certain old gun. |
| 1842 Yale Lit. Mag. VIII. 96, I can't always decipher *quail tracks. 1855 Trans. Mich. Agric. Soc. VI. 495 One acre of quail track corn planted on muck land. |
| 1807 Salmagundi 1 Oct. 312 He was particularly adroit in making our *quail-traps. 1845 Quail-trap [see fishing-light s.v. fishing vbl. n.1 5 a]. |
▪ II. quail, v.1 (
kweɪl)
Forms: 5–6
quayll, 5–7
quayle, (5
whayle),
quaile, 6–7
quale, 7
quaille, 6–
quail. See also
queal.
[Of uncertain origin. The early spelling and rimes prove a ME. quailen (with diphthongal ai), for which there is no obvious source. Phonology, sense, and date are against any connexion with early ME. quelen quele. In literary use the word is very common from about 1520 to 1650, after which it practically disappears until its revival,
app. by Scott, in the early part of the 19th c.]
I. intr. 1. Of material things, as persons, plants, etc.: To decline from a natural or flourishing condition; to fail or give way; to fade, wither, etc.
Obs. exc. dial.| c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 1775 Ewery thyng..that maketh resistens Ageyn nature, ful soone wil it quayle. c 1460 G. Ashby Dicta Philos. 1071 Better were a thing never to [be] had Than in handes to quaile & to be badde. 1568 T. Howell Arb. Amitie (1879) 24 Length of time, causeth man and beast to quaile. 1579 Spenser Sheph. Cal. Nov. 91 The braunch once dead, the budde eke needes must quaile. 1602 J. Rhodes Answ. Rom. Rhyme, Sp. touch. Heretics, Christ's word..that heauen and earth should quaile, Before his word one iote should faile. a 1796 Pegge Derbicisms (E.D.S.), Quail, to grow ill. 1825 Brockett N.C. Gloss., Quail, to fail, to fall sick, to faint. 1879 G. F. Jackson Shropsh. Word-bk., Quail, to languish; to fail; to fall sick. 1880 W. Cornw. Gloss. s.v., Quail, to wither;..‘These flowers soon quail’. |
2. Of immaterial things.
a. Of an action, undertaking, state of things, etc.: To fail, break down, come to nothing.
Obs. In
mod. use (
transf. from 3): To give way, yield
to or
before.
| c 1440 J. Capgrave Life St. Kath. iv. 1019 Whan moost nede is, his resons will quayll [v.r. whayle]. 1523 St. Papers Hen. VIII, VI. 197 Thei fynally concludyd..ther shold lack 2 or 3 voyces, wherby the election shold quayle. 1570 B. Googe Pop. Kingd. ii. 23 b, They toyle and moyle least that his state by talke of tongue should quaile. 1600 Holland Livy v. xxi. 194 After great massaker and execution committed, the fight began to quaile. 1611 Speed Hist. Gt. Brit. ix. ix. §23. 585 The Kings Ambassadours returne out of France, without hauing effected that which they went about, so that the whole enterprize quailed. |
| 1810 Scott Lady of L. ii. xxv, Roderick Dhu's renown..[should] quail to that of Malcolm Græme. 1857 Maurice Mor. & Met. Philos. III. iv. §9. 117 The name of William himself quailed before that of Abelard. |
b. Of courage,
† hope,
† faith, etc.: To fail, give way, become faint or feeble.
| 1557 Pole in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. lxviii. 246 The faythe of the sacraments began to quayle in so many hartes. a 1577 Gascoigne Flowers Wks. 1869 I. 43 Since courage quayles, and commes behind, Go sleepe. 1606 L. Bryskett Civ. Life 89 If..the hope began to quaile, forthwith courage failed withall. 1642 Rogers Naaman 408, I perceiue your zeale quales shrewdly in this Laodicean age. 1835 Thirlwall Greece I. vi. 212 Perils, which make the courage of the hardiest quail. |
3. Of persons: To lose heart, be cowed or discouraged; to give way through fear (
to or
before a formidable person or thing).
| 1555 in Strype Eccl. Mem. (1721) III. App. xliii. 122 He made them this faithful promise to the intent that they should not quaile. 1577–87 Holinshed Chron. III. 1212/1 The comming forward of these forces caused the rebels..to quaile in courage. 1604 T. Wright Passions i. vi. 23 Braggers..vaunt much at the beginning, but quaile commonly in the middle of the fray. 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 222 All the Lords quailing, and Appuleius tyrannizing. 1813 Byron Giaour xxxv, I have not quail'd to danger's brow. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §5. 137 The Earl of Chester..who had risen in armed rebellion, quailed before the march of Hubert. |
b. Of the heart or spirit; also of the eyes.
| 1563 Homilies ii. Repentance i. (1859) 531 Mens hearts do quail and faint, if they once perceive that they travail in vaine. 1600 Holland Livy xxxvi. ix. 924 Seeing many of the defendants..hurt and wounded, their hearts began to quaile. 1611 Shakes. Cymb. v. v. 149 Thy daughter For whom my heart drops blood, and my false spirits Quaile to remember. 1837 W. Irving Capt. Bonneville II. 225 [They] felt their hearts quailing under their multiplied hardships. 1841 Borrow Zincali I. i. i. 26 Their sharp eyes quailed quickly before his savage glances. 1892 J. Tait Mind in Matter (ed. 3) 249 In Gethsemane, the brave spirit of Jesus quailed. |
II. trans. † 4. To affect injuriously, to spoil, impair; to overpower, destroy, put an end to.
Obs. a. a thing.
| 1551 Gardiner Explic. Cath. Faith, Of the Presence 60 The truthe of that place hindreth and qualeth in maner all the booke. 1604 T. Wright Climact. Years 11 Nature in the meane time is strengthened with good foods, and the humour either purged or quailed with phisicke. 1655 H. Vaughan Silex Scint. ii. Time's Book iv, As some meek night-piece which day quails To candle light unveils. 1669 Boyle Cont. New Exp. ii. (1682) 66 The Apricocks were flaccid or quailed as if they had been dry or withered. |
| absol. 1590 Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 292 O Fates!..Cut thred and thrum, Quaile, crush, conclude, and quell. |
b. an action, state, quality, feeling, etc.
| 1532 More Confut. Barnes viii. Wks. 805/2 If he belieue saynt Austine..than is his own fond ymaginacion quayled. 1551 R. Robinson tr. More's Utop. Ep. Cecil (1895) 20 Mine old good wil and hartye affection towardes you is not..at all quayled and diminished. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 75 Quailing the chearefulnesse of others. 1628 Venner Baths of Bathe (1650) 350 The taking of cold drink doth suddenly quaile the heat. 1654 tr. Martini's Conq. China 5 Their antient..warlike Spirit, which the pleasures..of that Country had quailed and tamed. |
5. To daunt or cow (a person), to bring into subjection by fear; to cause to quail.
| 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 126 b, Some power of the soule shall quayle & trouble them. 1569 Golding Heminge's Post. 22 Paul was not quayled with the hugenesse of persecutions. 1642 Bridge Serm. Norfolk Volunteers 9 He is a stout man whom adversity doth not quaile. 1719 D'Urfey Pills (1872) III. 23 You Roaring Boys, who everyone quails. 1816 J. Wilson City of Plague iii. i. 49 As thunder quails Th' inferior creatures of the air and earth. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle ii. (1859) 55 Splinter did not like it, I saw, and that quailed me. |
b. To daunt, depress (the heart, courage) with fear or dejection.
| 1567 Turberv. Rayling Route 26 My courage is not quailde by cruell Fo. 1600 Holland Livy xcv. 1253 Ouerthrowes in warre and misfortunes..at sea, wherewith his heart was quailed. 1663 Butler Hud. i. iii. 204 Am not I here to take thy part? Then what has quail'd thy stubborn heart? 1706 in Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1844 Disraeli Coningsby v. ii, It..quailed the heart of Taper, crushed all the rising hopes. |
Hence
ˈquailer, one who, or that which, quails.
| 1599 Sandys Europæ Spec. (1632) 193 Avarice..the quailer of all manly executions. |
▪ III. quail, v.2 Obs. exc. dial. Forms: 5–6
quayle, 7
quaile.
[a. OF. quailler (F. cailler = It. quagliare, Pg. coalhar, Sp. cuajar):—L. coāgulāre to coagulate.] 1. intr. To curdle, coagulate.
| c 1430 Two Cookery-bks. 27 Caste on whyte Wyne or Venegre, & make it quayle. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 418/2 Quaylyn, as mylke, and other lycowre, coagulo. 1530 Palsgr. 676/2, I quayle, as mylke dothe, je quaillebotte. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 323 It is no better than poison, especially the first beestings, if it quaile and cruddle in the stomacke. 1706 in Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1881 Leicest. Gloss., Quail, to ‘turn’ or curdle; go flat or sour. |
b. to be quailed, to be curdled.
| 1530 Palsgr. 676/2 This mylke is quayled. 1809 Batchelor Orthoep. Anal. 140 The cream is said to be quailed, when the butter begins to appear in the process of churning. |
2. trans. To cause to curdle.
rare—1.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P.R. iv. iv. (1495) 83 The more boystous..partyes of the grayne the erth takyth..and quaylyth theym by heete. |
Hence
quailed ppl. a., curdled.
Obs.| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 418/1 Quaylyd, as mylke, and oþer lyke, coagulatus. 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg., etc., Þe lyuer..is the substaunce of flesshe, and red as quaylled blode. 1601 Holland Pliny II. 134 Such as haue..drunk quailed milke, that is cluttered within their stomack. |