shearwater

2 definitions found

shearwater - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Shearwater \Shear"wa`ter\, n. [Shear + water; cf. G.
     wassersherer; -- so called from its running lightly along the
     surface of the water.] (Zool.)
     Any one of numerous species of long-winged oceanic birds of
     the genus Puffinus and related genera. They are allied to
     the petrels, but are larger. The Manx shearwater (Puffinus Anglorum
     ), the dusky shearwater (Puffinus obscurus), and
     the greater shearwater (Puffinus major), are well-known
     species of the North Atlantic. See Hagdon.
     [1913 Webster]

shearwater - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  shearwater
      n 1: long-winged oceanic bird that in flight skims close to the
           waves