peetweet U.S.
(ˈpiːtwiːt)
[Echoic: cf. peewit.]
A popular name of the spotted sandpiper or sandlark of N. America (Tringoides macularius).
| 1844 J. E. De Kay Zool. New York ii. 247 The Spotted Sand-Lark..known among the people by the name of Peet⁓weet, in allusion to its notes. 1858 Thoreau Maine W. ii. (1864) 135 A company of peet-weets were twittering and teetering about over the carcass of a moose. 1894 Newton Dict. Birds 811 The Common Sandpiper... In America its place is taken by a closely-kindred species,..the ‘Peetweet’ or Spotted Sandpiper, so called from its usual cry. |