Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A family or small flock of birds, especially partridge or quail.
- noun A small group, as of persons.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
cove . - noun In hunting, specifically, a flock of partridges; hence, in general use, a flock of any similar birds.
- noun A company; a party; a bevy.
- noun Synonyms Pack, Brood, etc. See
flock .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb obsolete To brood; to incubate.
- noun A brood or hatch of birds; an old bird with her brood of young; hence, a small flock or number of birds together; -- said of game.
- noun A company; a bevy.
- noun Prov. Eng. A pantry.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun UK, slang A
man . - noun A group of 8-12 (or more)
quail . Seegaggle ,host ,flock . - noun A
brood ofpartridges ,grouse , etc. - noun A party or group (of persons or things).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a small flock of grouse or partridge
- noun a small collection of people
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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I suppose this is what they call a covey in these parts.
The Poacher Joseph Rushbrook Frederick Marryat 1820
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The idea of course being that one could rack out the slug and rack in shot when a covey is encountered.
Bucking Slug Recoil 2009
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The idea of course being that one could rack out the slug and rack in shot when a covey is encountered.
Bucking Slug Recoil 2009
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The covey was a large one, composed of two or three broods of young prairie fowl, and I struck on the exact place, a slight hollow filled with low brush and tall grass, where they were lying.
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The former grows up and during the fall and winter forms one of the covey which is content to wander a mile or two, here and there, in search of good feeding grounds.
The Log of the Sun A Chronicle of Nature's Year William Beebe 1919
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One morning he pointed the only covey of quail I saw in Iowa all season.
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I got a strange feeling and looked behind me and there he was a real nice 8 point buck no more than twenty yards away staring at me like a bird dog pointing a covey of quail.
Field & Stream's Best Hunting Story Contest: Week Three! 2009
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I got a strange feeling and looked behind me and there he was a real nice 8 point buck no more than twenty yards away staring at me like a bird dog pointing a covey of quail.
Field & Stream's Best Hunting Story Contest: Week Three! 2009
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Anyone who has ever winged a bird in an area holding other birds knows that a dog can be tracking a wounded bird and then come along another covey.
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Anyone who has ever winged a bird in an area holding other birds knows that a dog can be tracking a wounded bird and then come along another covey.
yarb commented on the word covey
Citation on arroyo.
August 26, 2008