puffin

[ puhf-in ]
/ ˈpʌf ɪn /

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.

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Origin of puffin

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

Words nearby puffin

puffball, puffbird, puffed-up, puffer, puffery, puffin, puffin crossing, puff paste, puff pastry, puff piece, puff-puff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for puffin

British Dictionary definitions for puffin

puffin
/ (ˈpʌfɪn) /

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