bidarka

American  

[bahy-dahr-kuh] / baɪˈdɑr kə /

Sometimes bidara or baidarka

noun

1. a sealskin boat used by primarily by the Alaskan Aleuts.

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bidarka British  

/ baɪˈdɑːkiː, baɪˈdɑːkə /

noun

1. a canoe covered in animal skins, esp sealskin, used by the Inuit of Alaska

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Etymology

Origin of bidarka

First recorded in 1825–35; from Russian baĭdárka, equivalent to baĭdár(a) “kind of river craft” (apparently akin to baĭdák “river craft, barge,” Old Russian baidakŭ, bodakŭ, of obscure origin) + -ka diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

With a shout he called to the others to halt, and presently, pushing the bidarka out into the creek, he paddled across to them.

From The Young Alaskans by Hough, Emerson

To begin with, the frost that creates the ice clears the air of fog, and the steel-shod pole either sheers the bidarka off from the ice, or the ice off from the bidarka.

From Vikings of the Pacific The Adventures of the Explorers who Came from the West, Eastward by Laut, Agnes C. (Agnes Christina)

Now, a few fathoms at a time, the native edged the bidarka up toward his game, precisely as the Aleut chief had approached the whale.

From The Young Alaskans by Hough, Emerson

They hurried the bidarka across the sea-wall to the open water of the bay.

From The Young Alaskans by Hough, Emerson

He hauled up across the bidarka deck the body of the otter, a dark-brown creature, even at that season fairly well furred, and in weight about that of a good-sized dog.

From The Young Alaskans by Hough, Emerson