hickwall
hickwall noun: a lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor).
Noun
hickwall (plural hickwalls)
- A lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor).
- A European green woodpecker (Picus viridis).
- […]at Shenington for example, the churchwardens paid 4d for each Hickwall (green woodpecker) killed, but there is no record of any payment for weasels, which were worth 3d at Bodicote. One would like to know if Hickwalls were rare at Bodicote and weasels at Shenington, or if in fact they were not...1975, Banbury Historical Society, Cake & Cockhorse, volume 6, page 126
- A blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus.
- Tomtit, Blue Tomtit, Nun, Blue-cap, Blue-bonnet, Billy-biter, Hickwall, Blue Mope. One of the most impudent of an impudent lot.1861, John Christopher Atkinson, British Birds' Eggs and Nests, Popularly Described, page 43
Forms of hickwall
| plural | hickwalls |
|---|---|
| alternative form | hickway |
Origin of hickwall
From Middle English hyghwhele; also highwale (1500s) or highawe (1600s). Rarely attested before the sixteenth century, making the original form difficult to trace. Probably imitative of the bird's cry; compare yaffle (“green woodpecker”). Possibly influenced by witwall, woodwall.
Questions about hickwall
- What does hickwall mean?
- Hickwall means a lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor).
- What part of speech is hickwall?
- Hickwall is a noun.
- What is the plural of hickwall?
- The plural of hickwall is hickwalls.
Words near hickwall in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: hickwall (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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