Labrador duck

American  

noun

1. an extinct sea duck, Camptorhynchus labradorius, of northern North America, having black and white plumage.

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Etymology

Origin of Labrador duck

An Americanism dating back to 1865–70

Example Sentences

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

McGrain’s subjects have included, among others, the passenger pigeon, the great auk, the Labrador duck, the heath hen, and the Carolina parakeet.

From The New Yorker • Nov. 14, 2018

The less numerous Labrador duck and Eskimo curlew suffered the same fate.

From New York Times • Dec. 4, 2016

Before the end of this smart, likable coming-of-age movie, the members of a high school’s Young Birder Society go on an expedition in search of the Labrador duck, a supposedly extinct species.

From New York Times • Mar. 20, 2014

Connecticut: Passenger pigeon, Eskimo curlew, great auk, Labrador duck, upland plover, heath hen, wild turkey; puma, gray wolf, Canada lynx, black bear, elk.

From Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation by Hornaday, William Temple