sea swallow
Americannoun
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any of several terns, especially Sterna hirundo.
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British Dialect. any of several small petrels, especially the storm petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus.
noun
Etymology
Origin of sea swallow
First recorded in 1590–1600
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.
Or would it rather evacuate and abandon them, letting the sea swallow the remains of their homes?
From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2022
Myriad leaf shadows danced on the black roadbed, level as a barn floor, and across it trailed the wavering image of hawk and vulture, gull and white sea swallow.
From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene
The Little Mary imitated all our evolutions, skimming over the waves like a sea swallow.
From Travels in the Steppes of the Caspian Sea, the Crimea, the Caucasus, &c. by Hell, Xavier Hommaire de
The wing of a white sea swallow never swept a lovelier curve on the breast of the ocean than the line of this valley.
From Her Father's Daughter by Stratton-Porter, Gene
Any moment the ice may crumble beneath our feet and the sea swallow up the entire party.
From The Romance of Polar Exploration Interesting Descriptions of Arctic and Antarctic Adventure from the Earliest Time to the Voyage of the ?Discovery? by Scott, G. Firth
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.
