Shoebill
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Balaeniceps rex, a tall wading bird related to the stork, native to tropical African swamps; the sole species of the family Balaenicipitidae.
"The Shoebill is distinctive in many aspects of its biology, and is thus, we feel, most appropriately placed in its own family, the Balaenicipitidae (L. Buxton et al. 1978, Kahl 1979a). The fact that we have included it in this book, while excluding the Hamerkop, indicates that we believe the Shoebill to be closer to the storks (Kahl 1967b, 1979c); however the jury remains out as to how close."
- 2 large stork-like bird of the valley of the White Nile with a broad bill suggesting a wooden shoe wordnet
Example
More examples"The Shoebill is distinctive in many aspects of its biology, and is thus, we feel, most appropriately placed in its own family, the Balaenicipitidae (L. Buxton et al. 1978, Kahl 1979a). The fact that we have included it in this book, while excluding the Hamerkop, indicates that we believe the Shoebill to be closer to the storks (Kahl 1967b, 1979c); however the jury remains out as to how close."
Etymology
From shoe + bill.
Related phrases
More for "shoebill"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.