ptarmigan
(noun) large Arctic and subarctic grouse with feathered feet and usually white winter plumage
Source: WordNet® 3.1
ptarmigan (plural ptarmigan or ptarmigans)
Any of three species of small grouse in the genus Lagopus found in subarctic tundra areas of North America and Eurasia.
• (species of small grouse): lagopus (obsolete)
Source: Wiktionary
Ptar"mi*gan, n. Etym: [Gael. tarmachan; cf. Ir. tarmochan, tarmonach.] (Zoöl.)
Definition: Any grouse of the genus Lagopus, of which numerous species are known. The feet are completely feathered. Most of the species are brown in summer, but turn white, or nearly white, in winter.
Note: They chiefly inhabit the northern countries and high mountains of Europe, Asia, and America. The common European species is Lagopus mutus. The Scotch grouse, red grouse, or moor fowl (L. Scoticus), is reddish brown, and does not turn white in winter. The white, or willow, ptarmigan (L. albus) is found in both Europe and America.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
1 June 2025
(verb) come back to the originator of an action with an undesired effect; “Your comments may backfire and cause you a lot of trouble”; “the political movie backlashed on the Democrats”
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
