eider duck

American  

noun

1. any of several large sea ducks of the genus Soamateria and allied genera of the Northern Hemisphere, the females of which yield eiderdown.

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Etymology

Origin of eider duck

First recorded in 1850–55

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

eider duck

The eider duck and the hair seal are disappearing, but on the word of Medical Missionary Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell, the country is infested with mice "of many varieties."

From Time Magazine Archive

Quilt stuffed   with the down of the eider duck.

From Mother's Remedies Over One Thousand Tried and Tested Remedies from Mothers of the United States and Canada by Ritter, Thomas Jefferson

There are more palatable things than bear or eider duck, yet I know many persons to whom snails, olive oil, and paté de fois gras are more repugnant.

From The First Landing on Wrangel Island With Some Remarks on the Northern Inhabitants by Rosse, Irving C. (Irving Collins)

The down of that pr-rovident bird, the eider duck, makes a substitute for the flesh that ought to pad my poor bones.

From A Tar-Heel Baron by Holloway, Edward Stratton

Hair seal and bear steaks were on different occasions tried at the mess on board the Corwin, but everybody voted eider duck and reindeer the preference.

From The First Landing on Wrangel Island With Some Remarks on the Northern Inhabitants by Rosse, Irving C. (Irving Collins)