puffin

American

[puhf-in] / ˈpʌf ɪn /

noun

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.

puffin British

/ ˈpʌfɪn /

noun

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

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

puffins

plural

Etymology

Origin of puffin

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

Explanation

A puffin is a black and white seabird with a bright orange beak and matching feet. Most puffins live in the northernmost parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Puffins belong to the family of birds known as auks. While puffins' coloring, proximity to the ocean, and fondness for fish make them similar to penguins, the two birds have some major differences. Penguins, which don't fly, have heavy bones that help them swim. Puffins, on the other hand, have hollow bones that assist them in soaring through the air. And while penguins live in the Southern Hemisphere, puffins are only found in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Vocabulary lists containing puffin

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Puffin Drinkwear – Not every gift has to be big or expensive, some are just silly, and that’s exactly what’s needed.

From Salon • Nov. 20, 2025

Publisher Puffin said on Wednesday the explicit material had been posted by a third party that had taken over the address.

From BBC • Oct. 9, 2025

Publisher Puffin said it was taking the matter extremely seriously and was working to get the website removed.

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025

Puffin chicks similarly suffer from the erratic weather, with intensified storms drowning their nests and taken a deadly toll on seabirds in numerous other ways.

From Salon • Jan. 26, 2024

But I still couldn’t get that left foot of the Large-Billed Puffin right.

From "Okay for Now" by Gary D. Schmidt

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023