yaffle

noun

1. (UK, dialectal)The European green woodpecker, Picus viridis.

   “I remember the cry of the wood-peckers, or yaffils, as we call them in that country, going to roost in a pale autumnal evening […].”

   ““‘Punched that rotton strap,’ he goes on saying, ‘like a gret ol' yaffle punchin' a 'ollow log!’””

verb

1. (intransitive)Of the green woodpecker: to make its distinctive cry.

   “Green woodpecker is not without options. Each year the builder comes to fix the house of the wooden roof. Green woodpecker watches then flies away, yaffling.”

2. (obsolete, slang)To eat.

   “At the mention of yaffling—the cant for eating—Ewan felt a pang of hunger in his belly.”

   “You're growing squab yaffling our food and then lazing in the hallway.”