tattler

tattler
/tat"leuhr/, n.
1. a person who tattles; telltale.
2. either of two shorebirds of the genus Heteroscelus, having a loud, whistling cry.
3. any of various related shorebirds having shrill cries, as the yellowlegs.
4. a small bass, Serranus phoebe, of the West Indies and Florida.
[1540-50; TATTLE + -ER1]

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▪ bird
      any shorebird that is easily alarmed and calls loudly when it senses danger. Broadly, tattlers are birds of the subfamily Tringinae of the family Scolopacidae. Examples are the redshank, greenshank, willet, and yellowlegs. More narrowly, the name is given to the wandering tattler (Heteroscelus incanus) and the Polynesian, or gray-rumped, tattler (H. brevipes). Both closely resemble the yellowlegs but are short-legged and have barred underparts in summer. The wandering tattler nests on gravel bars in Alaskan rivers and winters from Mexico to western Pacific islands. The slightly smaller Polynesian tattler does not nest on the ground but, instead, often uses the abandoned nests of songbirds. It winters in the Philippines, in Malaysia, and in Australia.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Tattler — Tat tler, n. 1. One who tattles; an idle talker; one who tells tales. Jer. Taylor. [1913 Webster] 2. (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of several species of large, long legged sandpipers belonging to the genus {Totanus}. [1913 Webster] Note: The common American …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Tattler — can refer to:*Tattler, a person who likes to gossip a lot *Tattler (student newspaper), the student newspaper of Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York. *Tattler (bird), a shorebird *Tattler (newsletter), the Newsletter for the East Asian… …   Wikipedia

  • Tattler — Tattler, s. Tatler …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • tattler — [tat′lər] n. 1. a person who tattles; gossip ☆ 2. a grayish brown sandpiper (Heteroscelus incanus) of the Pacific coastal region, known for its loud cry …   English World dictionary

  • tattler — Yellowlegs Yel low*legs , n. (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of several species of long legged sandpipers of the genus {Totanus}, in which the legs are bright yellow; called also {stone snipe}, {tattler}, {telltale}, {yellowshanks}; and {yellowshins}. See… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • tattler — noun a) One who tattles (notifies authorities of illicit behavior) or is inclined to do so; a tattletale. My sister is a big tattler; she always tells Mommy when I hit her! b) A device fitted to a vehicle to measure mileage etc. A few truck… …   Wiktionary

  • tattler — tattletale / tattler [n] person who gossips, tells rumors bigmouth*, blabberer, blabbermouth*, busybody, canary*, fat mouth*, fink*, gossip, informer, rat*, rumormonger, scandalmonger, snitch*, squealer*, stool pigeon*, talebearer, taleteller,… …   New thesaurus

  • tattler —    Ūlili.     A tattler running on the beach, struck by a big sea, falls, he ūlili holoholo kahakai, pā i ke kai nui, hina (of weaklings) …   English-Hawaiian dictionary

  • tattler — tattle ► NOUN ▪ gossip; idle talk. ► VERB ▪ engage in tattle. DERIVATIVES tattler noun. ORIGIN Flemish tatelen, tateren …   English terms dictionary

  • Tattler (student newspaper) — NOTOC The Tattler is the student newspaper of Ithaca High School in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1892, it is one of the oldest student newspapers in the United States. It is published six to ten times a year, and has a circulation of about 3,000 …   Wikipedia

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