chuck-will’s-widow

chuck-will’s-widow [chuhk-wilz-wid-oh] Word Origin noun

1. a goatsucker, Caprimulgus carolinensis, of the southern U.S., resembling the whippoorwill but larger.

Origin of chuck-will’s-widow First recorded in 1785–95; fanciful representation of its incessant call British Dictionary definitions for chuck-will’s-widow chuck-will’s-widow noun

1. a large North American nightjar, Caprimulgus carolinensis, similar to the whippoorwill