sooty tern
- a black and white tern, Sterna fuscata, of small tropical islands.
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Origin of sooty tern
First recorded in 1775–85
Also called wide-awake.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for sooty tern
Historical Examples
The sooty-tern is sometimes called the sea-swallow, on account of its form and power of flight.
Wake-RobinJohn Burroughs