stormy petrel

See synonyms for stormy petrel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the British storm petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus, of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean.

  2. a person who causes or likes trouble or strife.

Origin of stormy petrel

1
First recorded in 1770–80

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use stormy petrel in a sentence

  • Weary to death, Eric flung himself down, and slept deep and sound till the morning, on board the stormy petrel.

    Eric, or Little by Little | Frederic W. Farrar
  • He found his vein in weekly journalism, and for nearly forty years was the stormy petrel of Canadian politics.

    The Canadian Dominion | Oscar D. Skelton
  • A fishing-schooner, if well handled, is a veritable stormy petrel in riding out a blow.

    Blow The Man Down | Holman Day
  • Long before the first outbreak of hostilities in America Miranda had played the part of stormy petrel in other continents.

    South America | W. H. Koebel
  • But the good Bishop he walked as easily as a stormy petrel, for he was a man of God.

British Dictionary definitions for stormy petrel

stormy petrel

noun
  1. another name for storm petrel

  2. a person who brings or portends trouble

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012