waterfowl
Americannoun
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waterfowls,
plural
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waterfowl
plural
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a water bird, especially a swimming bird.
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such birds taken collectively, especially the swans, geese, and ducks.
noun
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any aquatic freshwater bird, esp any species of the family Anatidae (ducks, geese, and swans)
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such birds collectively
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of waterfowl
1250–1300; Middle English; cognate with German Wasservogel; see water, fowl
Vocabulary lists containing waterfowl
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.
See Examples For:
The table’s triangular, gently curved glass plane reads like the calm surface of a pool, beneath which the legs summon a cascade of associations: sea life, bones, waterfowl, twisted roots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
He cut himself off from mankind at the family lake, carefully observing the animals, fish and waterfowl.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
The researchers suggest that these young eagles could be taking advantage of seasonal food bonanzas such as spawning salmon, nesting waterfowl, or carcasses of large mammals.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2025
The avian influenza virus known as H5N1 has threatened U.S. poultry farms since 2022, after migratory waterfowl carried a new strain of the virus into North and South America.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2025
They were hungry for waterfowl or land birds.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
In the wild, influenza viruses generally spread among migratory waterfowls, such as ducks and geese.
From Salon ● Apr. 18, 2024
In fact, fast-swimming marine mammals and waterfowls tend to forgo drag-based thrust in favor of lift-based thrust, another propulsion system.
From Science Daily ● Jan. 8, 2024
The buffer of plants will discourages waterfowls, which prefer open grassy areas and succulent lawns, according to the public-health department.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 13, 2021
Send me also all the sorts of ducks and waterfowls you can get, and, in short, every sort of bird you can obtain which is not common here.
From Life of William Carey by George Smith
Every pond, large or small, is sure to be the resort of tall wading-birds and waterfowls.
From The Pearl of India by Maturin Murray Ballou
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.
