auk

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auk

(ôk)

Any of various diving seabirds of the family Alcidae of northern regions, having a chunky body, short wings, and webbed feet, such as the razorbill and the murres. Also called alcid.

[Norwegian alk, from Old Norse ālka.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

auk

(ɔːk)

1. (Animals) any of various diving birds of the family Alcidae of northern oceans having a heavy body, short tail, narrow wings, and a black-and-white plumage: order Charadriiformes. See also great auk, razorbill

2. (Animals) little auk dovekie a small short-billed auk, Plautus alle, abundant in Arctic regions

[C17: from Old Norse ālka; related to Swedish alka, Danish alke]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

auk

(ɔk)

n.

any of several small-winged black and white diving birds of the family Alcidae, of northern seas, having webbed feet. Compare great auk.

[1665–75; < Scandinavian]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

auk - black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas

sea bird, seabird, seafowl - a bird that frequents coastal waters and the open ocean: gulls; pelicans; gannets; cormorants; albatrosses; petrels; etc.

Alcidae, family Alcidae - web-footed diving seabirds of northern seas: auks; puffins; guillemots; murres; etc.

auklet - any of several small auks of the northern Pacific coasts

Alca torda, razorbill, razor-billed auk - black-and-white northern Atlantic auk having a compressed sharp-edged bill

dovekie, little auk, Plautus alle - small short-billed auk abundant in Arctic regions

great auk, Pinguinus impennis - large flightless auk of rocky islands off northern Atlantic coasts; extinct

guillemot - small black or brown speckled auks of northern seas

Translations

aŭko

ruokki

alk

alke

гагарка

alka

auk

[ɔːk] N → alca f
little auk → mérgulo m marino

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

auk

n (Zool) → Alk m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

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References in classic literature ?

Petrels are the most aerial and oceanic of birds, yet in the quiet Sounds of Tierra del Fuego, the Puffinuria berardi, in its general habits, in its astonishing power of diving, its manner of swimming, and of flying when unwillingly it takes flight, would be mistaken by any one for an auk or grebe; nevertheless, it is essentially a petrel, but with many parts of its organisation profoundly modified.

Hence it will cause him no surprise that there should be geese and frigate-birds with webbed feet, either living on the dry land or most rarely alighting on the water; that there should be long-toed corncrakes living in meadows instead of in swamps; that there should be woodpeckers where not a tree grows; that there should be diving thrushes, and petrels with the habits of auks.

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The form of its beak and nostrils, length of foot, and even the colouring of its plumage, show that this bird is a petrel: on the other hand, its short wings and consequent little power of flight, its form of body and shape of tail, the absence of a hind toe to its foot, its habit of diving, and its choice of situation, make it at first doubtful whether its relationship is not equally close with the auks. It would undoubtedly be mistaken for an auk, when seen from a distance, either on the wing, or when diving and quietly swimming about the retired channels of Tierra del Fuego.

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