Petrel

2 definitions found

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

  Petrel \Pe"trel\, n. [F. p['e]trel; a dim. of the name Peter, L.
     Petrus, Gr. pe`tros a stone (--John i. 42); -- probably so
     called in allusion to St. Peter's walking on the sea. See
     {Petrify}.] (Zool.)
     Any one of numerous species of longwinged sea birds belonging
     to the family {Procellarid[ae]}. The small petrels, or Mother


     Carey's chickens, belong to {{Oceanites}}, {{Oceanodroma}},
     {{Procellaria}}, and several allied genera.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     {Diving petrel}, any bird of the genus {Pelecanoides}. They
        chiefly inhabit the southern hemisphere.
  
     {Fulmar petrel}, {Giant petrel}. See {Fulmar}.
  
     {Pintado petrel}, the Cape pigeon. See under {Cape}.
  
     {Pintado petrel}, any one of several small petrels,
        especially {Procellaria pelagica}, or Mother Carey's
        chicken, common on both sides of the Atlantic.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  petrel
       n : relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far
           from land