hickwall
English
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hickwall
Where it comes from
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 hickwalls · hickway
- 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 co
- 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.
Talk about this word "hickwall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/hickwall. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. hickwall. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/hickwall "hickwall." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/hickwall.Cite this
@misc{hickwall_2026,
title = {hickwall},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/hickwall},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
