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

See Examples For:

Labrador duck

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

The extinction of the Labrador duck and the great auk have often been deplored.

From My Native Land The United States: its Wonders, its Beauties, and its People; with Descriptive Notes, Character Sketches, Folk Lore, Traditions, Legends and History, for the Amusement of the Old and the Instruction of the Young by Cox, James