old squaw

American  

Or oldsquaw

noun

1. a sea duck, Clangula hyemalis, of Arctic and subarctic regions.

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old squaw British  

noun

1. Also called: oldwife.  a long-tailed northern sea duck, Clangula hyemalis, having dark wings and a white-and-brown head and body

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Etymology

Origin of old squaw

An Americanism dating back to 1830–40

Example Sentences

The flowers were gone; the birds flocked in great clouds, and among them were eider and old squaw ducks that kept to the rivers and beaches except when they migrated south.

From "Julie of the Wolves" by Jean Craighead George

Thus arrived one evening just before sunset my old friend Pahajuka, accompanied by his good old squaw, and his granddaughter, and a few Comanches.

From The Backwoodsman or, Life on the Indian Frontier by Various

But the Kean medal was not among them; nor could I, by any system of description in my power, recall the features of the relic to the memory of the old squaw.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 07, No. 41, March, 1861 by Various

He had hardly disappeared, when the old squaw pushed aside the home-made doorway of her strange dwelling, and looked curiously in the direction of the noises.

From The Wilderness Trail by Williams, Frank

I understood that Weetamoo thought that if she should let me go and serve with the old squaw, she would be in danger to lose not only my service, but the redemption pay also.

From Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Rowlandson, Mary White