Wood·cock n.
 1. Zool. Any one of several species of long-billed limicoline birds belonging to the genera Scolopax and Philohela. They are mostly nocturnal in their habits, and are highly esteemed as game birds.
 Note: ☞ The most important species are the European (Scolopax rusticola) and the American woodcock (Philohela minor), which agree very closely in appearance and habits.
 2. Fig.: A simpleton.  [Obs.]
 If I loved you not, I would laugh at you, and see you
 Run your neck into the noose, and cry, “A woodcock!”   --Beau. & Fl.
 Little woodcock. (a) The common American snipe. (b) The European snipe.
 Sea woodcock fish, the bellows fish.
 Woodcock owl, the short-eared owl (Asio brachyotus).
 Woodcock shell, the shell of certain mollusks of the genus Murex, having a very long canal, with or without spines.
 Woodcock snipe. See under Snipe.
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