Shearwater

name, noun

name, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Any of the long-winged pelagic seabirds of the family Procellariidae in genera Puffinus, Ardenna, and Calonectris, that breed on islands and coastal cliffs.

    "At first I would not eat a frigate bird, a booby or a shearwater, but after a few months on the island I tried one broiled over coconut-shell coals, and I have never since missed an opportunity for such a feast."

  2. 2
    long-winged oceanic bird that in flight skims close to the waves wordnet
  3. 3
    Any of the entire family Procellariidae, including certain of the petrels. broadly
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A locality in Latrobe council area, northern Tasmania, Australia.

Synonyms

All synonyms
haghaglethaglet

Example

More examples

"At first I would not eat a frigate bird, a booby or a shearwater, but after a few months on the island I tried one broiled over coconut-shell coals, and I have never since missed an opportunity for such a feast."

Etymology

From shear + water.

Related phrases

Audubon's shearwaterBaillon's shearwaterBalearic shearwaterBannerman's shearwaterBarolo shearwaterBoyd's shearwaterBryan's shearwaterBuller's shearwaterCape Verde shearwaterChristmas shearwaterCory's shearwaterGalápagos shearwater

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