See Also: spoonbill(medicine)
spoonbill(dictionary)
spoonbill(encyclopedia)

spoonbill (iou)



spoonbill noun. L17.
[from SPOON noun + BILL noun2, after Dutch lepelaar (from lepel spoon).]
Any of various wading birds which with ibises constitute the family Threskiornithidae, and have a long spatulate or spoon-shaped bill specialized for feeding in water; esp. the Old World species Platalea leucorodia. L17.
roseate spoonbill: see ROSEATE adjective 1.
A spatulate or spoon-shaped bill. E19.
= spoonbill duck below. rare. L19.
Comb.: spoonbill duck a shoveller duck; spoonbill sandpiper a sandpiper, Eurynorhynchus pygmeus, of eastern Asia having a broad flat end to its bill.