Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several diving sea birds (family Alcidae) of northern regions, such as the razor-billed auk, having a chunky body, short wings, and webbed feet.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A diving bird belonging to the family Alcidæ and the order Pygopodes, characterized by having 3 toes, webbed feet, and short wings and tail. Originally the name was specifically applied to the great auk, or garefowl, Alca impennis, which became extinct about 1844, notable as the largest bird of the family and the only one deprived of the power of flight by reason of the smallness of its wings, though these were as perfectly formed as in other birds. It was about 30 inches long, the length of the wing being only about 6 inches. Its color was dark-brown above and white below, with a large white spot before the eye. It abounded on both coasts of the North Atlantic, nearly or quite to the arctic circle, and south on the American side to Massachusetts. The name came to be also specifically applied to the razor-billed auk, Alca or Utamania torda, a similar but much smaller species, about 15 inches long, with a white line instead of a spot before the eye; and finally, as a book-name, it was made synonymous with Alcidæ. Several North Pacific species still bear the name, as the rhinoceros auk (Ceratorhina monocerata), the crested auk (Simorhynchus cristatellus), etc.; but other special names are usually found for most of the birds of this family, as puffin, murre, guillemot, dovekie, auklet, etc. There are about 24 species belonging to the family. See Alca, Alcidæ.
- Same as awk.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A name given to various species of arctic sea birds of the family
Alcidæ . The great auk, now extinct, is Alca impennis (or Plautus impennis) . The razor-billed auk is Alca torda. See puffin, guillemot, and murre.
WordNet 3.0
- n. black-and-white short-necked web-footed diving bird of northern seas
Etymologies
- Norwegian alk, from Old Norse ālka.
Examples
“On my way out, I take a few pictures of a great auk skeleton on a stand.”
“With huge 200,000-strong colonies of little auk thronging the cliffs and shores, kittiwakes next to the cobalt blue glaciers, walrus wallowing in the shallows, Arctic foxes, whales and, of course, one of the ultimate wildlife sightings, the mighty polar bear, frequently seen hunting in its frosty backyard on ice floes.”
The Huffington Post: Paul Steele: Photographic Dreams Of The Wild Do Come True
“Decades before the Civil War astute observers noticed a decline in bison numbers and predicted that, like the great auk, the shaggy beasts would ultimately disappear.”
“Can genetic engineers do the same for the great auk?”
The Wall Street Journal: Habitat Loss Isn't the Villain of Species Extinction
“The last European breeding bird to die out altogether was the great auk—an island species—in the 1840s.”
The Wall Street Journal: Habitat Loss Isn't the Villain of Species Extinction
“Birdlife supporter Atwood - author of the Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake and the Blind Assassin - will speak at the exhibition as well as submitting a knitted great auk.”
The Guardian: Ghosts of Gone Birds: exhibition enlists artists to save endangered species
“Like Monty Python's infamous dead parrot, the great auk that author Margaret Atwood is knitting probably shuffled off his mortal coil, ran down the curtain and joined the choir invisible 150 years ago.”
The Guardian: Ghosts of Gone Birds: exhibition enlists artists to save endangered species
“As most news articles about the potential sale pointed out, studios are going the way of the great auk.”
The Wall Street Journal: Abbey Road and the Day Studio Music Died
“Many of us at the aquarium engaged in lively exchanges with visitors who insisted they saw penguins in Alaska or other locations in the Northern Hemisphere, but they likely saw razorbills, murres, puffins, guillemots, or other birds in the auk family.”
“At least one species, the great auk (Pinguinus impennis), is now extinct because of overexploitation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘auk’.
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Gene Wolfe
Please contribute your favorite words from any of Gene Wolfe’s books to this prize-winning list.
In case you come across words in this list which are too commonplace to fit in, please ...gallipot, roost, badelaire, oblesque, execration, dhole, amschaspand, arctother, chalcedony, penitence, asimi, autarch and 839 more...
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animals (1 syllable)
A list of common animal names. Keep the list to 1 syllable words.No scientific names. No proper names like 'Fluffy' the elephant.Insects and other creatures (even ficticious) are welcome!You can ...
dog, cat, bear, bee, ass, ape, horse, squid, bug, hare, hawk, pig and 137 more...
bilby The little auk is also known as the dovekie. Nov 26, 2008
pterodactyl The auk
Is awkward
When it walks --
And when it talks
It talks
In squawks. Nov 14, 2008
reesetee Sarra, another RSPB fan here. :-) Nov 13, 2008
sarra Awwwwww. My heart is warmed, skip. Nov 13, 2008
skipvia I think it's been done, John. Remember Vi? Nov 13, 2008
reesetee That surprises you, John? ;-) Nov 13, 2008
john Nor to be confused with the text-processing language awk. Which was on my short list of kid's names back when I was trying to convince my wife that all our children should be named after Unix command-line utilities: little awk, his sister sed, etc. Didn't get very far with that one. Nov 13, 2008
skipvia Not to be confused with the Auke, an Alaska native group related to the Tlingit. Hence Auke Bay, Alaska (near Juneau), which has no auks. Nov 13, 2008
bilby I've never actually seen these birds. Does an auk walk aukwardly? Nov 13, 2008
sarra Reminds me I need to link the sound file back to the RSPB whence it was pilfered. Coff! (No-one had listed little auk…) Nov 13, 2008
reesetee Me? But why would I make a bird list? Silly idea.
BAhahaha! I knew I couldn't keep a straight face on that one! Nov 13, 2008
bilby Yeah, you should make a bird list, rt. Nov 13, 2008
mollusque Ahem--so where is this list, reesetee? Nov 13, 2008
reesetee It's on my Coolest Birds Ever list. Even more charming in person. Nov 13, 2008
bilby The sound file is great! Auksome! What a Mad Clown Symphony! Nov 13, 2008
sarra I have a new-found love for the little auk (Alle alle). I present to you a tribute (ongoing). Nov 13, 2008