albatross

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of several large web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
2. n. A constant, worrisome burden.
3. n. An obstacle to success.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A web-footed sea-bird of the petrel family, Procellariidæ, and subfamily Diomedeinæ. About 12 species of albatross are known, all except the sooty albatross, Phæbetria juliginosa, belonging to the genus Diomedea. They are distinguished as a group from other birds of the petrel family by having the hind toe rudimentary, and the tubular nostrils separated, one on each side of the base of the upper mandible. The bill is stout and hooked at the end, the wings are very long, the tail and feet short, and the stature is very great. Albatrosses inhabit the southern seas at large, and the whole Pacific ocean, but not the northern Atlantic. Some of them are the largest known sea-birds, and all are noted for their powers of flight, sailing for hours, and in any direction with reference to the wind, without visible movement of the wings. They nest on the ground, and lay a single white egg. They are very voracious, may be caught with a hook and line baited with pork, and when taken on board a vessel are observed to walk with difficulty. One of the commonest and best-known species is the wandering albatross, D. exulans; it is also the largest species, having a stretch of wings of about 12 feet—an assigned dimension of 17½ feet being either a great exaggeration or highly exceptional. This bird is mostly white, with dark markings on the upper parts, flesh-colored feet, and a yellow bill. The short-tailed albatross, D. brachyura, is a related but smaller species. It goes far north in the Pacific ocean, where is also found the black-footed albatross, D. nigripes of Audubon. The yellow-nosed albatross is D. chlororhynchus, to which another species, D. culminata, is closely related; these, and D. melanophrys, are among the smaller species, and of about the size of the sooty albatross. The latter is wholly dark-colored. From their habit of following ships for days together without resting, albatrosses are regarded with feelings of attachment and superstitious awe by sailors, it being considered unlucky to kill one. Coleridge has availed himself of this feeling in his “Ancient Mariner.” Also spelled albatros, and in New Latin form albatrus, as either a generic or a specific designation.
2. n. A thin untwilled woolen material used for women's dresses.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of various large seabirds of the family Diomedeidae ranging widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
2. n. golf A double eagle, or three under par on any one hole.
3. n. idiomatic A long-term impediment, burden, or curse.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) A web-footed bird, of the genus Diomedea, of which there are several species. They are the largest of sea birds, capable of long-continued flight, and are often seen at great distances from the land. They are found chiefly in the southern hemisphere.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. large web-footed birds of the southern hemisphere having long narrow wings; noted for powerful gliding flight
2. n. (figurative) something that hinders or handicaps