waterfowl

[ waw-ter-foul, wot-er- ]

noun

, plural wa·ter·fowls, (especially collectively) wa·ter·fowl.

1. a water bird, especially a swimming bird.
2. such birds taken collectively, especially the swans, geese, and ducks.

waterfowl

/ ˈwɔːtəˌfaʊl /

noun

1. any aquatic freshwater bird, esp any species of the family Anatidae (ducks, geese, and swans)
2. such birds collectively

Word History and Origins

Origin of waterfowl¹

1250–1300; Middle English; cognate with German Wasservogel; water, fowl

Example Sentences

So Zhiming Yuan made computer simulations of waterfowl waves.

From Science News For Students

Using computer simulations of waterfowl waves, naval architect Zhiming Yuan of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, and colleagues calculated that a duckling cruising in just the right spot behind its mother gets an assist.

From Science News

Finds in and around the fireplace include bones of ducks and other waterfowl, a long, intact stone point and another point broken in two, a bone implement and seeds of several edible wetland plants.

From Science News

When the sensors, which harvest energy from soil microbes and sunshine, are deployed later this year, they’ll track water quality and the sounds of crop-ravaging waterfowl.

From Popular-Science

Look out for boats, swimmers or waterfowl, and once their absence is confirmed, find a medium-sized stone, ideally flat with rounded edges.

From Ozy

The Federal Duck Stamp Act raised the fee on stamps needed to hunt waterfowl on federal land from $15 to $25.

From The Daily Beast

Wood pigeon, pheasant, partridge, grouse, peacocks, hares, wild rabbits, and waterfowl are all dietary staples.

From The Daily Beast

Anselme, thus enjoined, lent an unwonted alacrity to his movements, waddling grotesquely like a hastening waterfowl.

From Project Gutenberg

I noticed that the tea was poured out of a pot made in the shape of a beautiful waterfowl, its beak forming the spout.

From Project Gutenberg

There were plump young pigeons and hares and rabbits to be had, and very often he came in for waterfowl by the river.

From Project Gutenberg

At the jhils the various waterfowl are nesting and each one proclaims the fact by its allotted call.

From Project Gutenberg

All sorts of waterfowl came to Nanahboozhoo and they seemed anxious to hear what had been revealed.

From Project Gutenberg