Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In ornithology, certain down-feathers or plumulæ, technically called
pulviplumes , which grow indefinitely, and continually break down at their ends into a kind of powdery or scurfy exfoliation.
Etymologies
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Examples
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It is also heron like in its possession of powder-down and some other features, and some workers have argued that it is really an aberrant heron.
Archive 2006-05-01 Darren Naish 2006
chained_bear commented on the word powder-down
A down feather which grows continuously and disintegrates into a powder at the tips instead of being moulted (more fully powder-down feather); such feathers collectively, which occur in patches on certain birds, as herons, toucans, parrots, and bowerbirds, the powder being used in cleaning the plumage.
February 13, 2007