1. Popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs and feet.
2. (Game bird) Flesh of any of various grouse of the family Tetraonidae; usually roasted; flesh too dry to broil.
Fowl-like game bird of the subfamily Tetraonidae, in the pheasant family, Phasianidae. The subfamily also includes quail, ptarmigan, and prairie chicken. Grouse are native to North America and N Europe. They are mostly ground-living. During the mating season the males undertake elaborate courtship displays in small individual territories (leks).
Among the most familiar are the ruffed grouse Bonasa umbellus, common in woods in N and E North America, and the blue grouse Dendragapus obscurus of W North America.

To hunt grouse.