a short-billed gregarious wading bird, typically found by water but sometimes frequenting grassland, tundra, and mountains.
Family Charadriidae (the plover family): several genera and numerous species, especially the ringed plovers (Charadrius), golden plovers (Pluvialis), and lapwings (Vanellus)
Origin:
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French, based on Latin pluvia 'rain'
