nightjar

noun

night·​jar ˈnīt-ˌjär How to pronounce nightjar (audio)
: any of a family (Caprimulgidae) of medium-sized long-winged crepuscular or nocturnal birds (such as the whippoorwills and nighthawks) having a short bill, short legs, and soft mottled plumage and feeding on insects which they catch on the wing

called also goatsucker

Examples of nightjar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There are a handful of parrot, owl, nightjar, penguin, and puffin species that are known to have biofuorescent feathers or patches of skin. — Elizabeth Rayne, Ars Technica, 23 Feb. 2025 By behaving in ways that real whip-poor-wills never do, Dunwich’s nightjars symbolize the horrors the Whateleys unleash on the townspeople. — Jared Del Rosso, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

night entry 1 + jar "discordant sound," derivative of jar entry 3 (alluding to the churring trill of the European nightjar, Caprimulgus europaeus)

First Known Use

1630, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of nightjar was in 1630

Rhymes for nightjar

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Cite this Entry

“Nightjar.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nightjar. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about nightjar

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