petrel

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pet·rel

(pĕt′rəl)

Any of various black, gray, or white pelagic seabirds of the order Procellariiformes, found mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.

[Perhaps alteration of earlier pitteral (perhaps influenced by Saint Peterwalking on the water, from the fact that the bird flies so close to the water as to appear to be walking on it).]

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.

petrel

(ˈpɛtrəl)

(Animals) any oceanic bird of the order Procellariiformes, having a hooked bill and tubular nostrils: includes albatrosses, storm petrels, and shearwaters. See also storm petrel

[C17: variant of earlier pitteral, associated by folk etymology with St Peter, because the bird appears to walk on water]

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

pet•rel

(ˈpɛ trəl)

n.

any of various oceanic tube-nosed seabirds of the families Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, and Pelecanoididae.

[1670–80; earlier pitteral, of uncertain orig.]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun

petrel - relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land

oceanic bird, pelagic bird - bird of the open seas

family Procellariidae, Procellariidae - petrels; fulmars; shearwaters;

Procellaria aequinoctialis, white-chinned petrel - large black petrel of southern seas having a white mark on the chin

giant fulmar, giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus - large brownish petrel chiefly of Antarctic seas

fulmar, fulmar petrel, Fulmarus glacialis - heavy short-tailed oceanic bird of polar regions

shearwater - long-winged oceanic bird that in flight skims close to the waves

storm petrel - any of various small petrels having dark plumage with paler underparts

Translations

procellaria

petrel

[ˈpetrəl] N → petrel m, paíño m

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

petrel

n → Sturmvogel m

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

References in classic literature ?

The "Stormy Petrel" was manned by half a dozen jaunty looking sailors, who made a fine display of blue shirts and shiny hats, with stars and anchors in every direction.

Then the boats parted company, and across the water from the "Petrel's" crew came a verse from one of the Nonsense songs in which the boys delighted.

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The condor lays a couple of eggs and the ostrich a score, and yet in the same country the condor may be the more numerous of the two: the Fulmar petrel lays but one egg, yet it is believed to be the most numerous bird in the world.

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I am afraid, my dear Colonel, that you must regret the hour that you took in such a stormy petrel as I am."

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Flying fish skimmed the water like thick spray; petrels were so few that I could count them; another shark swam round me for an hour.

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And over this desolate face of nature a stern silence reigned, scarcely broken by the flapping of the wings of petrels and puffins.

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Outward bound, and off the pitch of Cape Horn, he used to sit on the taffrail, and keep the steward loading three or four old fowling pieces, with which he would bring down albatrosses, Cape pigeons, jays, petrels, and divers other marine fowl, who followed chattering in our wake.

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Yet whales and seals, petrels and albatross, are exceedingly abundant throughout this part of the ocean.

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Two Storm Petrels were off Caernarfon and a probable Leach's Petrel was photographed off Criccieth.

BIRD NOTES With Julian Hughes

The sighting follows the discovery of another World War II-era shipwreck, the USS Hornet, which sank not far away, off the Solomon Islands by Research Vessel Petrel, funded by the late Microsoft founder Paul Allen.

World War II aircraft carrier discovered beneath surface of South Pacific

The battleship Hiei was discovered at a depth of 1,000 meters (3,280 feet) in January by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's expedition team aboard research ship R/V Petrel. For decades, Allen committed himself to locating famous shipwrecks, leveraging sonar scanning technology and underwater cameras to confirm their visuals and condition.