battue
9.9
A hunt where people drive animals towards waiting hunters
- noun
- /bæˈtu/
- UK
:
batida
- The hunting party organized a battue to ensure that game would be pushed into the open for their shot.
Examples
-
The battue, for example where a row of beaters scares the living daylight out of an entire forest.
-
During the battue, beaters moved through the brush to drive the deer toward the hunters waiting nearby.
-
In a traditional battue, the noise made by the beaters helps to stir up the animals hiding in the undergrowth.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Etymology
Battue comes from the French verb battre, which means 'to beat', and is like the English word beat. It names a hunt where beaters 'beat' the bushes to drive game toward waiting hunters, so the origin explains the hunting meaning.