quail

Meaning

Verb

1. To waste away; to fade, to wither.
2. To daunt or frighten (someone).
3. To lose heart or courage; to be daunted or fearful.
4. Of courage, faith, etc.: to slacken, to give way.

Noun

1. Any of various small game birds of the genera Coturnix, Anurophasis or Perdicula in the Old World family Phasianidae or of the New World family Odontophoridae.
2. The meat from this bird eaten as food.
3. (obsolete) A prostitute.

Synonyms

flinch

recoil

shrink

wince

funk

cringe

partridge

be afraid

tremble

squinch

fear

😨

grouse

shiver

shudder

shy

startle

be discouraged

be frightened

common quail

get scared

little quail

make one’s flesh creep

shrink back

be daunted

fish

🐟

bushfowl

have a feeling of repugnance

make one’s hair stand on end

tremble in fear

Old World quail

migratory quail

balk

doggle

blench

bobwhite

boggle

bowerbird

cower

falter

get frightened

intimidate

little

quake

quiver

Pronounced as (IPA)

/kweɪl/

Etymology

From Middle English quaylen, from Middle Dutch queilen, quēlen, from Old Dutch *quelan, from Proto-West Germanic *kwelan, from Proto-Germanic *kwelaną (“to suffer”). Doublet of queal.