cormorant
Americannoun
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any of several voracious, totipalmate seabirds of the family Phalacrocoracidae, as Phalacrocorax carbo, of America, Europe, and Asia, having a long neck and a distensible pouch under the bill for holding captured fish, used in China for catching fish.
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a greedy person.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cormorant
1300–50; Middle English cormera ( u ) nt < Middle French cormorant, Old French cormareng < Late Latin corvus marīnus sea-raven. See corbel, marine
Explanation
A cormorant is a bird that lives near the ocean and dives for fish. You can recognize cormorants by their long necks and dark color. Cormorants live in coastal areas and use their sharp bills to catch fish. They look similar to ducks or seagulls when they float on the water, but when they hunt for fish, cormorants dive completely under water and disappear from the surface for several seconds. In Old French, the word for this bird was cormarenc, from the Late Latin corvus marinus, or "sea raven."
Vocabulary lists containing cormorant
Island of the Blue Dolphins
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The Turtle of Oman
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The Golden Compass
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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.
A great blue heron balanced on a dock and watched me; a cormorant eyed me curiously.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2025
In 2018, there were also claims that Australians tried to rig the contest in favour of the shag - a species of cormorant.
From BBC • Sep. 16, 2024
An Antarctic cormorant on western Graham Land was also infected yet apparently unharmed.
From Science Magazine • Mar. 18, 2024
At its 2013 peak, this was the largest double-crested cormorant colony in North America, with some 30,000 birds, more than 40% of the species’ population in the western U.S., according to the Corps.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 21, 2024
Pantalaimon held it firmly down with a needle-filled paw and looked up at the darkening sky, where the black wing flaps of the cormorant were circling higher as she cast around for the other.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
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.
