accipiter noun. [ak'sɪpɪtǝ] E19.
[Latin = hawk, bird of prey.]
1. A bandage for the nose, resembling a hawk's claw. Only in 19.

2. Ornithology. Orig., any bird of prey of the order Accipitres (now called Falconiformes), which excludes owls. Now, any of the relatively short-winged, long-legged birds of prey belonging to the genus Accipiter and typified by the sparrowhawk and the goshawk. E20.

■ accipitral adjective hawklike; rapacious; keen-sighted: M19.

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