merganser

American  

[mer-gan-ser] / mərˈgæn sər /

noun

mergansers plural

1. any of several fish-eating diving ducks of the subfamily Merginae, having a narrow bill hooked at the tip and serrated at the edges.

---

merganser British  

/ mɜːˈɡænsə /

noun

1. Also called: sawbill.  any of several typically crested large marine diving ducks of the genus Mergus, having a long slender hooked bill with serrated edges See also goosander

---

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• merganser
  plural
• mergansers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of merganser

1745–55; < New Latin, equivalent to Latin merg ( us ) diver, a kind of water bird + ānser goose

Example Sentences

They continue to venture further out on their own, but as soon as Mama Merganser starts heading somewhere, they all quickly follow suite.

From NewsForKids.net • May 7, 2024

But, he says, “…as soon as Mama Merganser starts heading somewhere, they all quickly follow…”

From NewsForKids.net • May 7, 2024

The mother was a kind of duck called a Common Merganser.

From NewsForKids.net • May 7, 2024

The Perrywood logo, with its two geese, and street names such as Whistling Duck Drive and Merganser Court are a nod to Chesley’s passion for hunting as well as the birds that visit the pond.

From Washington Post • Aug. 17, 2021

You here see before you an actual Red-Breasted Merganser.

From Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. 2, No. 2 August, 1897 by Various