bonxie

American

[bongk-see] / ˈbɒŋk si /

noun

skua.

bonxie British

/ ˈbɒŋksɪ /

noun

(originally in Shetland) the great skua See skua

"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

Etymology

Origin of bonxie

First recorded in 1765–75; of uncertain origin; final element is apparently -sy

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.

He frequently plucks from his tremendous word hoard gems that will send you to the dictionary: bonxie, fankle, rupestral, stramash, zawn.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 12, 2026

They seem to be identical in species with the "skua," or "bonxie" of the Shetlands.

From Narrative of the Circumnavigation of the Globe by the Austrian Frigate Novara, Volume I (Commodore B. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,) Undertaken by Order of the Imperial Government in the Years 1857, 1858, & 1859, Under the Immediate Auspices of His I. and R. Highness the Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, Commander-In-Chief of the Austrian Navy. by Scherzer, Karl Ritter von

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