windcuffer

noun

windcuffer

noun

Etymology From wind + cuffer, from cuff (“hit, slap”); compare windhover.

1

UK, Dialectal, Rare The common kestrel.

  • A windcuffer hovered overhead.1980, Hamish M. Brown, Hamish's mountain walk: the first traverse, page 51:
  • An auld ram alone huddled against the wind, that had swept clear the skies even of eagle, windcuffer, and goose. The scent of saltwater rode the wind over the freshwater loch, and the dry field-grasses rattled,2012, GMW Wemyss, Sensible Places: essays on place, time, & countryside →ISBN, in Wiltonshire, England), page 6
1 more example
  • I was gorse on the track beaconing the way, I was seal in the sea, braving the swell, I was windcuffer mounting the bitter winds, I was cloud billowing higher than Hoy.2012, Caitlín Matthews (born in Portsmouth, England), Bone Song, in John Matthews, The Book of Celtic Verse: A Treasury of Poetry, Dreams & Visions →ISBN

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.