pelican

[pel-i-kuhn]

noun

1. any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.

2. a still or retort with two tubes that leave the body from the neck, curve in opposite directions, and reenter the body through the belly.

pelican

/ ˈpɛlɪkən /

noun

1. any aquatic bird of the tropical and warm water family Pelecanidae, such as P. onocrotalus ( white pelican ): order Pelecaniformes. They have a long straight flattened bill, with a distensible pouch for engulfing fish

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelican¹

before 1000; Middle English pellican, Old English < Late Latin pelicānus, variant of pelecān < Greek pelekā́n

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelican¹

Old English pellican, from Late Latin pelicānus, from Greek pelekān; perhaps related to Greek pelekus axe, perhaps from the shape of the bird's bill; compare Greek pelekas woodpecker

Example Sentences

But there’s a payoff waiting at the point, where tides lap on a little sand beach, waves crash on dramatic black rocks and pelicans perch on sea stacks.

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Elegant terns cried and circled in the distance, and pelicans flew from the ocean to the lagoon, so close overhead sometimes I could hear the flapping of their heavy wings.

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A flock of brown pelicans was released back into the wild near the Huntington Beach Pier.

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A flock of brown pelicans waddled back into the wild on Wednesday morning, survivors of Southern California’s latest toxic algal bloom.

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Exhibits including the lions, bears, sea lions and pelicans have closed because they need major renovations.

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