puffin

American  

[puhf-in] / ˈpʌf ɪn /

noun

1. any of several alcidine sea birds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda, having a short neck and a large, compressed, grooved bill, as F. arctica Atlantic puffin, of the North Atlantic.

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puffin British  

/ ˈpʌfɪn /

noun

1. any of various northern diving birds of the family Alcidae (auks, etc), esp Fratercula arctica ( common or Atlantic puffin ), having a black-and-white plumage and a brightly coloured vertically flattened bill: order Charadriiformes

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Etymology

Origin of puffin

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English poffoun, poffin, puffon (compare Anglo-Latin poffo, puffo ); origin uncertain

Example Sentences

Then in spring this year, cameras set up as part of the rat eradication programme caught two puffins coming and going from a nesting burrow on the cliff ledges.

From BBC

There were seagulls and puffins and cormorants and vultures and skuas and terns and sandpipers and eagles and every other type of northern bird, all flying together.

From Literature

The country's flora and fauna will feature on them all, with animals including the red squirrel, puffin and dormouse depicted.

From BBC

A record number of puffins have been recorded on a small island off the Pembrokeshire coast, despite global populations declining rapidly.

From BBC

"Safeguarding sandeel stocks is a key part of the jigsaw that will help set our puffins, kittiwakes and the wider marine environment on the path to recovery."

From BBC