coot

noun

ˈküt

: any of various slaty-black birds (genus Fulica) of the rail family that somewhat resemble ducks and have lobed toes and the upper mandible prolonged on the forehead as a horny frontal shield

: any of several North American scoters

: a harmless simple person

broadly : fellow sense 4c

Examples of coot in a Sentence

Don't mind him—he's just a crazy old coot.

Recent Examples on the Web While the common coot pictured here and the American coot are species of least concern on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, certain other rails are highly threatened. —

Carlyn Kranking, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2023 The flutes went unnoticed until last year when Dr. Davin observed marks on seven wing bones of Eurasian coots and Eurasian teals. —

Franz Lidz, New York Times, 28 Aug. 2023 The Natufians picked small wing bones from the Eurasian teal and the Eurasian coot to best mimic the sound of birds of prey native to the area. —

Teresa Nowakowski, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 June 2023 Even playing in front of tiny audiences, this ol’ coot flouncing about onstage, is a blast. —

Tristram Lozaw, BostonGlobe.com, 3 Apr. 2023 Birds that once wintered at Tulare Lake — ibises, blackbirds and American coots — are returning in increasing numbers. —

Shawn Hubler, New York Times, 2 Apr. 2023 This dramedy about a kid befriending an old coot played by Bill Murray is more than a little sitcommy, reducing both the irreverence of Murray’s funniest movies and the prickliness of his work with Wes Anderson into standard senior-citizen-speaks-freely shtick. —

Jesse Hassenger, Men's Health, 12 Jan. 2023 Kind of a handsome old coot, actually. —

Jay Nordlinger, National Review, 28 Aug. 2022 Three double-crested cormorants, an American coot and a western gull were found dead, according to the Oiled Wildlife Care Network. —

Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2021 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'coot.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.