arsefootn.
/ˈɑːsfʊt/, U.S. /ˈɑrsˌfʊt/ Now chiefly historical.
Any of several diving birds that have their legs placed far back on the body; esp. the great crested grebe ( Podiceps cristatus) and the little grebe ( Tachybaptus ruficollis).
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the world > animals > birds > order Sphenisciformes or penguin > [noun]
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > [noun] > order Podicipediformes (grebes) > miscellaneous types of
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the world > animals > birds > freshwater birds > [noun] > order Podicipediformes (grebes) > podiceps ruficollis (dabchick)
dive-dapa1000
doppe13..
dumping1393
dippera1425
didapperc1440
dopperc1440
ducker?a1500
dabchickc1520
dive-dapper1559
arsefoot1598
loon1678
penny bird1823
helldiver1839
Tom Pudding1848
1598 J. Florio Worlde of Wordes Giuero..a bird called a diuer, a didapper, or arsefoote.
1678 J. Ray tr. F. Willughby Ornithol. 339 The Greater Loon or Arsfoot, Colymbus major.
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VI. 92 Our sailors..give these birds [sc. penguins] the very homely, but expressive, name of Arse-feet.
1817 T. Forster Synoptical Catal. Brit. Birds 28 Podiceps cristatus. Great Crested Grebe,..Greater Loon, Arsefoot, Tipped Grebe, [etc.].
1997 D. Underhill Only Salt 17 Some call you [sc. the great northern diver] arsefoot, lame on land, awkward, ill-shaped with legs at the back.
2005 M. Cocker Birds Britannica 5/2 The grebe's family name, Podicipedidae, a conjunction of the Latin podex (rump) and pes (foot),..was once more pithily rendered as ‘arsefoot’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2018; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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