quail

UK: /ˈkweɪl/ US: /kweɪl/ ,(kwāl)

Inflections of 'quail' (n):

quails

npl (All usages)

quail

npl (Can be used as a collective plural for the birds—e.g. "The men are hunting quail.")

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026

quail¹ /kweɪl/   n. [countable] , pl. quails, (esp. when thought of as a group) quail. 

1. Birds a small, plump bird of the pheasant family.

quail² /kweɪl/   v. [no object]

1. to lose courage;
   shrink back in fear:
   quailed at the thought of the danger ahead.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

quail¹  (kwāl), n., pl. quails, ([esp. collectively] ) quail. 

1. Birds a small, migratory, gallinaceous game bird, Coturnix coturnix, of the Old World.
2. Birds any of several other birds of the genus Coturnix and allied genera.
3. Birds any of various New World gallinaceous game birds of the genus Colinus and allied genera, esp. the bobwhite.
4. Sex and Gender [Slang.] a woman or girl.

• Gmc; compare Dutch kwakkel quail, Middle Dutch, Middle Low German quackele; akin to quack¹
• Old French
• Middle English quaille 1300–50

quail′like′, adj. 

quail²  (kwāl), v.i. 

1. to lose heart or courage in difficulty or danger;
   shrink with fear.
• Middle Dutch quelen, queilen
• late Middle English 1400–50
Synonyms
recoil, flinch, blench, cower. See wince. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

quail / kweɪl/ noun (quails, quail)

1. any small Old World gallinaceous game bird of the genus Coturnix and related genera, having a rounded body and small tail: family Phasianidae (pheasants)

Etymology: 14th Century: from Old French quaille, from Medieval Latin quaccula, probably of imitative origin

quail / kweɪl/ verb

1. (intransitive) to shrink back with fear; cower

Etymology: 15th Century: perhaps from Old French quailler, from Latin coāgulāre to curdle