smew

American

[smyoo] / smyu /

noun

a Eurasian duck, Mergus albellus, closely akin to mergansers: the male is white marked with black and gray.

smew British

/ smjuː /

noun

a merganser, Mergus albellus, of N Europe and Asia, having a male plumage of white with black markings

"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

Etymology

Origin of smew

First recorded in 1665–75; origin uncertain

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.

According to McKerrow, the bird in this handsome device, with the word "wick" in its bill, is probably a smew, with a pun intended on the name of the owner of the device, Smethwick.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023