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Glite Dictionary
to batfowl

to batfowl

9.9
To catch birds by shining light on them at night
  • verb
  • Archaic
translation icon : cazar aves con luz
  • Farmers would batfowl in autumn when birds gathered in large flocks at dusk.

Examples

  • He batfowled along the riverbank, using lanterns to surprise sleeping birds.

  • In olden days, villagers sometimes batfowled to provide food for winter.

  • They decided to batfowl in the dark.

  • I often batfowl near the lake.

  • Farmers would batfowl at twilight, using bright lights to dazzle birds as they flew overhead.

  • He batfowled by the lake, shining his flashlight to catch unsuspecting birds resting on the water.

  • In autumn, villagers often batfowled in the fields, luring in birds with flickering lanterns.

Synonyms

to jacklight
vsto batfowl
  • Jargon
9.9

To shine a bright light at animals at night to make them easier to shoot

targets birds specifically to catch them rather than to shoot them

How Intense

to blind
104 3.7
to batfowl
  • Archaic
9.9
to dazzle
6 4.1

Surface Forms

batfowl infinitive
batfowled past
batfowled past participle
batfowling present participle
batfowls third person singular

Morphology

batfowl = bat + fowl (opaque) = bat + fowl

While the components are identifiable, the specific meaning 'to catch birds by dazzling them with light' is not predictable from 'bat' + 'fowl'.

Etymology

Batfowl joins bat ('a night animal') and fowl ('bird'), giving a clear picture of birds and the night. So, to batfowl is to catch birds at night by shining lights to surprise or briefly blind them.