pelican

American  

[pel-i-kuhn] / ˈpɛl ɪ kən /

noun

• pelicans
  plural

1. any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.

2. a still or retort with two tubes that leave the body from the neck, curve in opposite directions, and reenter the body through the belly.

---

pelican British  

/ ˈpɛlɪkən /

noun

1. any aquatic bird of the tropical and warm water family Pelecanidae, such as P. onocrotalus ( white pelican ): order Pelecaniformes. They have a long straight flattened bill, with a distensible pouch for engulfing fish

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pelicans
  plural

---

Etymology

Origin of pelican

before 1000; Middle English pellican, Old English < Late Latin pelicānus, variant of pelecān < Greek pelekā́n

---

Explanation

A pelican is a huge waterbird with an enormous pouch under its long beak. Pelicans prefer warm places, and Florida is a great place to see both white and brown varieties. Pelican comes from Greek roots, pelekan and pelekys, "ax," which somewhat describes the shape of a pelican's bill, with its downturned hook at the end. The most distinctive thing about a pelican is its throat pouch, which it efficiently uses to scoop up fish and drain water before swallowing. The brown pelican is the state bird of Louisiana, a fact that inspired the name of New Orleans' NBA team, the Pelicans.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pelican pelicans

Cyclists use one side of the four-lane highway while pedestrians stroll the other, often with pelican formations flying overhead.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026

Olsi produced some binoculars and showed me egrets, plovers, ducks, cormorants, bee-eaters, a pelican.

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

At its San Pedro location, specialists were caring for 60 pelican babies as of Tuesday, with more arriving every day, Duerr said.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2025

On the day of the accident, she had illegally parked her car on a pelican crossing before attempting to perform a U-turn.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2024

So, perhaps, was music, both vocal and instrumental; excavating Caral, Shady discovered thirty-two flutes made of pelican wingbones tucked into a recess in the main temple.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Despite their name, shoebill storks are actually more closely related to pelicans, herons and ibises.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

He has described the prehistoric-looking Dalmatian pelicans, which “have eyes of such tremulous glacial depths—the bluish-gray sclera like an ice sheet being cored by the black iris—that they appear to hold entire worlds inside them.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

Some cranes, pelicans, and vultures weighing between 8kg and 21.5kg have hatchlings ranging from 110g to around 357g, corresponding to neonate-adult body mass ratios of about 1.3% to 4.5%.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

It also can wreak havoc on wildlife, with numerous pelicans and sea lions being poisoned in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026

Lupita could spy some pelicans out fishing, diving awkwardly into the sea.

From "Lupita Mañana" by Patricia Beatty

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---