puffin

[puhf-in]

noun

any of several alcidine sea birds of the genera Fratercula and Lunda, having a short neck and a large, compressed, grooved bill, as F. arctica (Atlantic puffin), of the North Atlantic.

Origin of puffin

1300–50; Middle English poffoun, poffin, puffon (compare Anglo-Latin poffo, puffo); origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for puffin

Contemporary Examples of puffin

For the adventurous, try the reindeer or puffin; for those feeling fishy, go for arctic char or the array of sushi.
Gal With a Suitcase
Jolie Hunt
November 13, 2009

Historical Examples of puffin

He's my friend, and—and I don't like to see him puffin' like that.
Mixed Faces
Roy Norton
I did know that; but I thought you'd have had on your very best so as to soften the Puffin's heart.
Lalage's Lovers
George A. Birmingham
We must hope that the Puffin may prove, as she expects, to be a disguised lamb.
Lalage's Lovers
George A. Birmingham
Puffin turned from him in scorn, still concealing his own bag.
Miss Mapp
Edward Frederic Benson
“Three and a half to four times, I should say,” repeated Puffin.
Miss Mapp
Edward Frederic Benson

British Dictionary definitions for puffin

puffin

noun

any of various northern diving birds of the family Alcidae (auks, etc), esp Fratercula arctica (common or Atlantic puffin), having a black-and-white plumage and a brightly coloured vertically flattened bill: order Charadriiformes

Word Origin for puffin

C14: perhaps of Cornish origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for puffin

North Atlantic seabird, mid-14c., perhaps connected with puff on notion of appearance, or from some Celtic word (earliest association is with Cornwall and Scilly), and altered by influence of puff.