auk
pronunciation
How to pronounce auk in British English:
UK [ɔːk]
How to pronounce auk in American English:
US [ɔːk]
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- Noun:
- black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas
Word Origin
- auk (n.)
- 1670s, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse alka, probably originally imitative of a water-bird cry (compare Latin olor "swan," Greek elea "marsh bird").
Example
- 1. Gull family ; skimmer family ; jaeger family ; auk family .
- 2. A great juicy steak ; a great multitude ; the great auk ; a great old oak ; a great ocean liner ; a great delay .
- 3. While humans had hunted the auk for millennia , with native americans including the skins and bones in their death rituals , excessive hunting for meat and feathers was too much for the population to bear .
- 4. Large large flightless auk of rocky islands off north atlantic coast ; extinct .