Shearwater

2 definitions found

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

  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]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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