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Historical loan words

Filters

Idioms

Phrases

Proverbs

Loan words

Historical loan words

korowhio

1. (verb) to whistle.

Mehemea ka korowhio te kiwi, pēnei me te korowhiti, ā he tāne tēnā (W 1971:146). / If the kiwi whistles, like the whistle through a bent finger, that's a male.

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2. (noun) whistle sound - e.g. the call of a male kiwi.

Ko te tangi a te kiwi uha, ‘Poai! Poai!’; ko tā te kiwi tāne i rite ki te korowhio. Nā reira ko te whakangē o te kiwi he korowhio (M 2004:80). / The call of the female kiwi was, 'Poāi! Poāi!', while that of the male kiwi was like a whistle. So the lure call of the kiwi was a whistle.

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3. (noun) blue duck, Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos - blue-grey duck with a pale pink bill found along fast-flowing mountain streams and rivers in native forest and tussock grassland. Named after the call of the male bird.

See also whio

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