noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   Any of various diving ducks of the genera Mergus or Lophodytes, which feed on fish and have a sharply serrated bill.
2. 2
   large crested fish-eating diving duck having a slender hooked bill with serrated edges wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

fish duckgoosandermagpiemergus mergansersawbillsheldrake

Etymology

From Late Latin merganser, from Latin mergus (“waterfowl, diver”), from mergō (“to dip, immerse”) + ānser (“goose”).

Related phrases

Brazilian merganserLophodytes cucullatusMergus australisMergus merganserMergus octosetaceusMergus serratorMergus squamatuscommon merganserhooded merganserred-breasted merganserscaly-sided merganser†Auckland merganser

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.