powder down
modified down feathers that continually crumble at the tips, producing a fine powder that forms a bloom on the plumage of certain birds, as pigeons and herons.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use powder down in a sentence
He laughed and shouted heartily at the contrivance, and hurled the victim of their wasted powder down among them.
Guy Rivers: A Tale of Georgia | William Gilmore SimmsHind toe elevated above plane of others; no powder down patches; bill not hooked at tip.
British Birds in their Haunts | Rev. C. A. JohnsPowder-down feathers are degenerate down-feathers which appear to secrete a dry, waxy kind of powder.
There are several different kinds of feathers—contour feathers, semiplumes, down-feathers, filoplumes and powder-down.
The powder-down patches of the oil bird are upon each side of the rump.
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