auk
[awk]
- any of several usually black-and-white diving birds of the family Alcidae, of northern seas, having webbed feet and small wings.
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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. 2018
Examples from the Web for auk
Historical Examples
Oolichuk continued this process until the first auk was finished.
The Giant of the NorthR.M. Ballantyne
Upon the whole, I thought it would not do to depend upon the auk.
The Land of ThorJ. Ross Browne
But there was a deplorable lack of information about the haunts and habits of the auk.
The Land of ThorJ. Ross Browne
Auk, is a term, in compound words of these dialects, denoting wood.
The Indian in his WigwamHenry R. Schoolcraft
Of all the Auk tribe, so far as my experience goes, the Puffin flies the most.
British Sea BirdsCharles Dixon
auk
- 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
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Word Origin
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
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Word Origin and History for auk
n.
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").
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper