Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of various diving seabirds of the family Alcidae of northern regions, having a chunky body, short wings, and webbed feet, such as the razorbill and the murres.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A diving bird belonging to the family Alcidæ and the order Pygopodes, characterized by having 3 toes, webbed feet, and short wings and tail.
- Same as
awk .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) A name given to various species of arctic sea birds of the family
Alcidæ . The great auk, now extinct, isAlca impennis (orPlautus impennis ) . The razor-billed auk isAlca torda . Seepuffin ,guillemot , andmurre .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of
several species ofArctic sea birds of thefamily Alcidae .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word auk.
Examples
-
Decades before the Civil War astute observers noticed a decline in bison numbers and predicted that, like the great auk, the shaggy beasts would ultimately disappear.
Between War and Peace Col. Matthew Moten 2011
-
Can genetic engineers do the same for the great auk?
Habitat Loss Isn't the Villain of Species Extinction Matt Ridley 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
-
On my way out, I take a few pictures of a great auk skeleton on a stand.
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
-
On my way out, I take a few pictures of a great auk skeleton on a stand.
The Memory Palace Mira Bartók 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
-
With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.
Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True Paul Steele 2011
sarra commented on the word auk
I have a new-found love for the little auk (Alle alle). I present to you a tribute (ongoing).
November 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word auk
The sound file is great! Auksome! What a Mad Clown Symphony!
November 13, 2008
reesetee commented on the word auk
It's on my Coolest Birds Ever list. Even more charming in person.
November 13, 2008
mollusque commented on the word auk
Ahem--so where is this list, reesetee?
November 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word auk
Yeah, you should make a bird list, rt.
November 13, 2008
reesetee commented on the word auk
Me? But why would I make a bird list? Silly idea.
BAhahaha! I knew I couldn't keep a straight face on that one!
November 13, 2008
sarra commented on the word auk
Reminds me I need to link the sound file back to the RSPB whence it was pilfered. Coff! (No-one had listed little auk…)
November 14, 2008
bilby commented on the word auk
I've never actually seen these birds. Does an auk walk aukwardly?
November 14, 2008
skipvia commented on the word auk
Not to be confused with the Auke, an Alaska native group related to the Tlingit. Hence Auke Bay, Alaska (near Juneau), which has no auks.
November 14, 2008
john commented on the word auk
Nor to be confused with the text-processing language awk. Which was on my short list of kid's names back when I was trying to convince my wife that all our children should be named after Unix command-line utilities: little awk, his sister sed, etc. Didn't get very far with that one.
November 14, 2008
reesetee commented on the word auk
That surprises you, John? ;-)
November 14, 2008
skipvia commented on the word auk
I think it's been done, John. Remember Vi?
November 14, 2008
sarra commented on the word auk
Awwwwww. My heart is warmed, skip.
November 14, 2008
reesetee commented on the word auk
Sarra, another RSPB fan here. :-)
November 14, 2008
pterodactyl commented on the word auk
The auk
Is awkward
When it walks --
And when it talks
It talks
In squawks.
November 14, 2008
bilby commented on the word auk
The little auk is also known as the dovekie.
November 26, 2008