fowl

plural fowls

1. archaicAny bird.

   1 more example

   And now I take vpon me the aduentures of holy thynges / & now I see and vnderstande that myn old synne hyndereth me and shameth me / so that I had no power to stere nor speke whan the holy blood appiered afore me / So thus he sorowed til hit was day / & herd the fowles synge / thenne somwhat he was comforted

   And now I take upon myself the adventures of holy things / And now I see and understand that my old sin hinders me and shames me / so that I had no power to steer nor speak when the holy blood appeared afore me / So thus he sorrowed till it was day / and heard the fowls sing / then somewhat he was comforted

   1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter XIX, in Le Morte Darthur, book XIII

2. A bird hunted or kept for food, grouped into landfowl (order Galliformes), also called gamefowl, and waterfowl (order Anseriformes: ducks, geese, swans, etc.), which together form the clade Galloanserae.

present singular third person fowls · participle present fowling · participle past fowled · past fowled

1. intransitiveTo hunt fowl.

   We took our guns and went fowling.

2. transitiveTo use or traverse in pursuit of fowls.

   They hunt all grounds; and dravv all ſeas; Foule euery brooke, and buſh; to pleaſe Their vvanton taſts:[…]

   1611, Ben[jamin] Jonson, Catiline His Conspiracy, London: […] [William Stansby?] for Walter Burre, →OCLC, Act I, signature D, recto

comparative fowler · superlative fowlest

1. obsoletefoul

   1 more example

   Paradise Lost, John Milton Say first, for Heav'n hides nothing from thy view / Nor the deep Tract of Hell, say first what cause / Mov'd our Grand Parents in that happy State / Favour'd of Heav'n so highly, to fall off / From their Creator, and transgress his Will / For one restraint, Lords of the World besides? / Who first seduc'd them to that fowl revolt?