apteryx
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of apteryx
1805–15; < New Latin: the genus name, equivalent to Greek a- a- 6 + -pteryx, adj. use of ptéryx wing
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.
Among birds, the emeu, the cassowary, and the apteryx are species rapidly vanishing; amongst quadrupeds, the kangaroo—the platypus: others slowly, but not less surely.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by Rameur, E.
But the apteryx is one of those odd geniuses which come into the world too soon, and perish ineffectual.
From Concerning Animals and Other Matters by Aitken, Edward Hamilton
In short, the British Innkeeper, as these writers represent him, figures as a sort of human apteryx, who supports himself entirely by the length of his bill.
From Punch - Volume 25 (Jul-Dec 1853) by Various
Neither the apteryx nor the manchot fly any more than the ostrich.
From The Catholic World; Volume I, Issues 1-6 A Monthly Eclectic Magazine by Rameur, E.
The last of the gigantic birds were probably exterminated, like the dodo, by human agency: some small species allied to the apteryx may possibly be met with in the unexplored parts of the middle island.
From COSMOS: A Sketch of the Physical Description of the Universe, Vol. 1 by Humboldt, Alexander von
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
