Top Definitions
Quiz
Examples

sooty tern

Save This Word!

noun

a black and white tern, Sterna fuscata, of small tropical islands.

QUIZ

WILL YOU SAIL OR STUMBLE ON THESE GRAMMAR QUESTIONS?

Smoothly step over to these common grammar mistakes that trip many people up. Good luck!

Question 1 of 7

Fill in the blank: I can’t figure out _____ gave me this gift.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Also called wide-awake.

Origin of sooty tern

First recorded in 1775–85

Words nearby sooty tern

sooty, sooty blotch, sooty grouse, sooty mold, sooty mould, sooty tern, sop, sopa, sopaipilla, Soper, soph

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use sooty tern in a sentence

The Common Tern is a regular but not numerous spring and autumn visitant to the Islands, some remaining to breed.
Birds of Guernsey (1879)|Cecil Smith
I mark this by inserting a paragraph-mark ( ) at the beginning of each tern.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer
Each tern is occupied with a distinct subject, which I indicate by headings, viz.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 1 (of 7) -- Romaunt of the Rose; Minor Poems|Geoffrey Chaucer
The latter had shot and wounded a tern, but before he could reach it, the helpless bird was carried off by its companions.
Man And His Ancestor|Charles Morris

The black of her dress was a sooty black, but you would only have called her hair black because there was nothing else to call it.
Mushroom Town|Oliver Onions