aporrhais pes-pelicani

1 definition found

aporrhais pes-pelicani - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Pelican \Pel"i*can\ (p[e^]l"[i^]*kan), n. [F. p['e]lican, L.
     pelicanus, pelecanus, Gr. peleka`n, peleka^s, pele`kanos, the
     woodpecker, and also a water bird of the pelican kind, fr.
     peleka^n to hew with an ax, fr. pe`lekys an ax, akin to Skr.
     para[,c]u.] [Written also pelecan.]
     1. (Zool.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus Pelecanus,
        of which about a dozen species are known. They have an
        enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a
        pouch in which captured fishes are temporarily stored.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The American white pelican (Pelecanus erythrorhynchos
           ) and the brown species (Pelecanus fuscus
           ) are abundant on the Florida coast in winter,
           but breed about the lakes in the Rocky Mountains and
           British America.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Old Chem.) A retort or still having a curved tube or
        tubes leading back from the head to the body for
        continuous condensation and redistillation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The principle is still employed in certain modern forms
           of distilling apparatus.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Frigate pelican (Zool.), the frigate bird. See under
        Frigate.
  
     Pelican fish (Zool.), deep-sea fish (Eurypharynx  pelecanoides
        ) of the order Lyomeri, remarkable for the
        enormous development of the jaws, which support a large
        gular pouch.
  
     Pelican flower (Bot.), the very large and curiously shaped
        blossom of a climbing plant (Aristolochia grandiflora)
        of the West Indies; also, the plant itself.
  
     Pelican ibis (Zool.), a large Asiatic wood ibis (Tantalus  leucocephalus
        ). The head and throat are destitute of
        feathers; the plumage is white, with the quills and the
        tail greenish black.
  
     Pelican in her piety (in heraldry and symbolical art), a
        representation of a pelican in the act of wounding her
        breast in order to nourish her young with her blood; -- a
        practice fabulously attributed to the bird, on account of
        which it was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, and of
        charity.
  
     Pelican's foot (Zool.), a marine gastropod shell of the
        genus Aporrhais, esp. Aporrhais pes-pelicani of
        Europe.
        [1913 Webster]