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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• pelicans
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of pelican

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

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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

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

From Slate ● Sep. 8, 2026

“Would you consider an amendment to add the pelican as a co-official state bird?”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026

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

A pelican suspected to have died from H5N1 avian influenza is seen on a beach in Lima, on December 1, 2022.

From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2024

As if fired from a cannon, the priest himself came hurtling out, with his pelican daemon in a wild flutter of feathers and injured pride.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

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

In recent months, dozens of pelicans and cormorants were found dead near San Diego.

From Barron's ● Jul. 27, 2026

In 2024, the graffiti artist created an animal trail around the capital with pieces featuring a goat, elephants, a gorilla, monkeys, piranhas, a rhino and pelicans among other animals.

From BBC ● Dec. 22, 2025

“That’s nice, Captain. That’s very nice. That’s a gentleman’s school, sure enough. Why didn’t you fly with the pelicans like the rest of your classmates?”

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

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