Cormorant

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cormorant \Cor"mo*rant\ (k[^o]r"m[-o]*rant), n. [F. cormoran,
     fr. Armor. m[=o]r-vran a sea raven; m[=o]r sea + bran raven,
     with cor, equiv. to L. corvus raven, pleonastically prefixed;
     or perh. fr. L. corvus marinus sea raven.]
     1. (Zool.) Any species of {Phalacrocorax}, a genus of sea
        birds having a sac under the beak; the shag. Cormorants


        devour fish voraciously, and have become the emblem of
        gluttony. They are generally black, and hence are called
        {sea ravens}, and {coalgeese}. [Written also {corvorant}.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A voracious eater; a glutton, or gluttonous servant. --B.
        Jonson.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cormorant
       n : large voracious dark-colored long-necked seabird with a
           distensible pouch for holding fish; used in Asia to catch
           fish [syn: {Phalacrocorax carbo}]

From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:

  Cormorant
     (Lev. 11:17; Deut. 14:17), Heb. shalak, "plunging," or "darting
     down," (the Phalacrocorax carbo), ranked among the "unclean"
     birds; of the same family group as the pelican. It is a
     "plunging" bird, and is common on the coasts and the island seas
     of Palestine. Some think the Hebrew word should be rendered
     "gannet" (Sula bassana, "the solan goose"); others that it is
     the "tern" or "sea swallow," which also frequents the coasts of
     Palestine as well as the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan valley
     during several months of the year. But there is no reason to
     depart from the ordinary rendering.
     
       In Isa. 34:11, Zeph. 2:14 (but in R.V., "pelican") the Hebrew
     word rendered by this name is _ka'ath_. It is translated
     "pelican" (q.v.) in Ps. 102:6. The word literally means the
     "vomiter," and the pelican is so called from its vomiting the
     shells and other things which it has voraciously swallowed. (See {PELICAN}.)