auk

[ awk ]

/ ɔk /

noun

any of several usually black-and-white diving birds of the family Alcidae, of northern seas, having webbed feet and small wings.

Nearby words

Compare great auk, razor-billed auk.

Origin of auk

1665–75; < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse alka

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for auk

Of the latter some have three toes, as the penguin, auk, &c.; others have four.
Lives of Eminent Zoologists, from Aristotle to Linnus|William MacGillivray
Of all the Auk tribe, so far as my experience goes, the Puffin flies the most.
British Sea Birds|Charles Dixon
Aquatic birds of passage of the auk kind on our western coasts; called also razor-bills.
The Sailor's Word-Book|William Henry Smyth
Initially, he was a hunter-naturalist, but scientific enough to publish in the Auk and the Journal of Heredity.
Guide to Life and Literature of the Southwest|J. Frank Dobie

Upon the whole, I thought it would not do to depend upon the auk.
The Land of Thor|J. Ross Browne

British Dictionary definitions for auk

auk

/ (ɔːk) /

noun

any of various diving birds of the family Alcidae of northern oceans having a heavy body, short tail, narrow wings, and a black-and-white plumage: order CharadriiformesSee also great auk, razorbill auk

little auk or dovekie a small short-billed auk, Plautus alle, abundant in Arctic regions

Word Origin for auk

C17: from Old Norse ālka; related to Swedish alka, Danish alke

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

Word Origin and History for auk

auk

1670s, from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse alka, probably originally imitative of a water-bird cry (cf. Latin olor "swan," Greek elea "marsh bird").