n.
Pronunciation: ' k ə r-( ˌ )lü, ' k ə rl-( ˌ )yü
Function: noun
Inflected Form: plural curlews or curlew
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French curleu, of imitative origin
Date: 14th century
: any of various largely brownish chiefly migratory birds (esp. genus Numenius ) having long legs and a long slender down-curved bill and related to the sandpipers and snipes