wryneck
/ˈɹaɪnɛk/ noun
Forms wrynecks
- noun Either of two small woodpeckers, Jynx torquilla and Jynx ruficollis, of the Old World, that turn their heads almost 180 degrees when foraging.
- noun (medicine, dated) A twisted or distorted neck; a deformity in which the neck is drawn to one side by a rigid contraction of one of the muscles.
Synonyms
Etymology
From wry + neck.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A twisted or distorted neck; a deformity in which the neck is drawn to one side by a rigid contraction of one of the muscles of the neck; torticollis.
- noun Any one of several species of Old World birds of the genus Jynx, allied to the woodpeckers; especially, the common European species (J. torguilla); --so called from its habit of turning the neck around in different directions. Called also cuckoo's mate, snakebird, summer bird, tonguebird, and writheneck.
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “wryneck”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details