pelican
Americannoun
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any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.
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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.
noun
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.
Vocabulary lists containing pelican
Birds, Birds, Birds, List 2
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"The Tragedy of Hamlet," Vocabulary from Act 4
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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.
And as for the showstopping pelican, the frog erupts out of its beak right on cue, a moment that indeed inspires a round of laughter and childlike awe.
From Los Angeles Times • May 20, 2026
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
Work to install a signalled pelican crossing started on Saturday, slightly ahead of schedule.
From BBC • Oct. 8, 2023
Already, a pelican colony on the Great Salt Lake has floundered after lowering water levels turned its island into a peninsula, giving access to coyotes, Seed said.
From Washington Times • Sep. 7, 2023
He flung his huge pelican wings out to catch himself, but only succeeded in knocking down both Normans, too.
From "Chronicles of a Lizard Nobody" by Patrick Ness
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.
