stormy petrel
Americannoun
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the British storm petrel, Hydrobates pelagicus, of the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and Indian Ocean.
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a person who causes or likes trouble or strife.
noun
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another name for storm petrel
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a person who brings or portends trouble
Etymology
Origin of stormy petrel
First recorded in 1770–80
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.
But Leon Smith, the captain, was determined to have him here, his stormy petrel capable of all sorts of heroics in the past, a good luck charm now, and a loud one.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 29, 2015
Pierre Boulez used to be the stormy petrel of contemporary music.
From Time Magazine Archive
The shabby, bright-eyed stranger who could command an audience with these famed statesmen at such an hour was none other than M. Georg Tchitcherin, famed political stormy petrel and Foreign Minister to the Soviet Union.
From Time Magazine Archive
Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, 58, hawk-nosed, "gimlet-eyed" stormy petrel of the U. S. Marine Corps; of an abdominal ailment; in Philadelphia.
From Time Magazine Archive
The eggs of the stormy petrel are surprisingly large, considering the diminutive size of the bird, being as large as those of the thrush.
From Natural History in Anecdote Illustrating the nature, habits, manners and customs of animals, birds, fishes, reptiles, etc., etc., etc. by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
