Meanings
plural cushats · alternative cowshot · alternative dialectal cowscot · alternative dialectal cushie · alternative dialectal cusha · alternative obsolete cowschet · alternative obsolete kowschot · alternative obsolete cuschet · alternative obsolete coushot · alternative obsolete cowshut · alternative obsolete cooscot
- GeordieScotlandliteraryA pigeon, wood pigeon or ring dove.
Thro' lofty groves the Cuſhat roves, The path of man to ſhun it
1793, Robert Burns, “Song Composed in August (Now Westlin Winds)”, in Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect, 2nd edition, volume II, Edinburgh: […] T[homas] Cadell, […], and William Creech, […], published 1793, →OCLC, page 1332 more examples
The cushat crouds, the corbie cries, The cuckoo cuks, the prattling pyes,
1597, Alexander Montgomery, The Cherrie and the Slae[A]nd no sound falls on my ears, except the distant roar of a passing train, the song of linnets, and croodle of turtle-dove and cushat.
1888, Gordon Stables, In Touch with Nature: Tales and Sketches from the Life, page 46Synonyms: cushat dove, cushat-dove, queest, quist
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA pigeon, wood pigeon or ring dove.
More synonyms by meaning
nounEurasian pigeon with white patches on wings and neck
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishcūsċeote
- Middle Englishcowshott
- Englishcushat
From Middle English cowshott, cowschote, quyshte, from Old English cūsċeote (literally “cow shoot”), although it is difficult to understand why such a name would be given to these birds (see cūsċeote for more). Doublet of quist.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek φάσσα
- φάσσα (phássa)informal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
Bulgarian гривяк
- гривяк (grivjak)informal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
Finnish pulu
- puluinformal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
Greek φάσσα
- φάσσα (fássa)informal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
Russian лесно́й го́лубь, вя́хирь
- лесно́й го́лубь (lesnój gólubʹ)informal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
- вя́хирь (vjáxirʹ)informal: pigeon; wood pigeon; ring dove
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
cushat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cushat
“cushat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cushat. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cushat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cushat.
Source: cushat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.