auk

American  

[awk] / ɔk /

noun

1. 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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auk British  

/ ɔːk /

noun

1. 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 Charadriiformes See also great auk razorbill auk

2. a small short-billed auk, Plautus alle, abundant in Arctic regions

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Etymology

Origin of auk

1665–75; < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse alka

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

auk

Along with the passenger pigeon we exterminated the great auk, the Carolina parakeet, the Labrador duck and the ivory-billed woodpecker.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 23, 2026

In the remote wilderness of Northwest Greenland, the research team employed passive acoustic and imaging technologies to uncover the hidden rhythms of little auk colonies.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 15, 2024

Interest in the subject has accelerated because of die-offs of some of the puffin’s auk family relatives, such ascommon murres and Cassin’s auklets off the West Coast.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 29, 2023

Man has long imperilled beast, as reflected by the extinction of the passenger pigeon, great auk, and Tasmanian tiger.

From The New Yorker ● Apr. 30, 2017

Any lesser auk might have called it quits.

From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el

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