hickwall

== English == === Alternative forms === hickway === Etymology === 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. === Noun === hickwall (plural hickwalls) (UK, regional) A lesser spotted woodpecker (Dryobates minor). (UK, regional) A European green woodpecker (Picus viridis). (UK, regional, archaic) A blue tit, Cyanistes caeruleus. ==== References ==== “hickwall”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Hickwall”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC. === Anagrams === wallhick