Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Any of several large sea birds of the genus Morus, especially M. bassanus of northern Atlantic coastal regions, having white plumage with black wingtips. Also called solan.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The solan-goose, Sula bassana, a large totipalmate swimming bird of the family Sulidæ and order Steganopodes. It is about 3 feet long and 6 feet in stretch of wings, and of a white color tinged with amber-yellow on the head, with black primaries. It inhabits the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America, feeds on fish, which it catches by pouncing down upon them from on high, and congregates in vast numbers to breed in certain rocky places on the seacoast. It is a strong flier, but is not found far from land. Some of the principal breeding-places are the Hebrides, St. Kilda, Ailsa Craig, and the Bass Rock, on the European coast, and the “Gannet Rock,” in the gulf of St. Lawrence. The fiesh is rank, but the young are sometimes eaten, and the old birds are taken in numbers for their feathers.
- n. plural The birds of the family Sulidæ; the boobies, of which there are several species, of the genera Sula and Dysporus.
Wiktionary
- n. any of three species of large seabird in the genus Morus, of the family Sulidae. They have black and white bodies and long pointed wings, and hunt for fish by plunge diving and pursuing their prey underwater.
- n. a voracious eater; a glutton.
- n. a person who flocks towards food whenever it is put out.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. One of several species of sea birds of the genus Sula, allied to the pelicans.
WordNet 3.0
- n. large heavily built seabird with a long stout bill noted for its plunging dives for fish
Etymologies
- Middle English ganet, from Old English ganot; see ghans- in Indo-European roots.
Examples
“The gannet is the scrap merchant of the ocean, its trash collector.”
“The gannet is a great diver, plunging down into the sea from a considerable height, such as forty feet.”
“POISED with its wings spread out in the air, the gannet was the ideal subject for Javier Martin’s photograph.”
“The bird, a young northern gannet found offshore, is normally white with a yellow head.”
“Uncomforted by nicotine the man's spirits plummeted like a gannet after sprats.”
The Guardian: Down go the fairy lights and down go Middlesbrough's promotion hopes | Harry Pearson
“One of the first oil-covered birds to be cleaned up and released in early May was a northern gannet that should have been on its way north to a breeding colony on the Atlantic coast of Canada.”
“The first two oiled birds found since the spill, a northern gannet and a brown pelican, were cleaned, rehabilitated and released at Florida's Pelican Island National Wildlife Refuge, the National Audubon Society said.”
The Washington Post: Engineers trying multiple tactics in battle to plug oil well in Gulf of Mexico
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other groups released the pelicans and one northern gannet.”
The Huffington Post: Pelicans Rehabbed From Gulf Oil Spill Released Into Texas Wildlife Refuge
“UK news reports on the annual gannet hunt off the northern Hebrides.”
“Workers with Tri-State Bird Rescue and Research, which is based in Delaware, are using Dawn blue dishwashing soap to scrub the oil off the young northern gannet.”
The Huffington Post: Bird Coated In Oil As Louisiana Gulf Spill Nears Wetlands (PHOTOS)
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