grebe

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. Any of various swimming and diving birds of the family Podicipedidae, having a pointed bill and lobed, fleshy membranes along each toe.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A bird of the family Podicipedidæ (which see for technical characters); a diving bird, related to the loons or divers, but pinnatiped or lobe-footed, with a rudimentary tail, naked lores, and, in most species, a crest on the head. There are upward of 20 species, of several genera, distributed all over the world. They inhabit chiefly fresh waters, and are most expert divers and swimmers, but move on land very awkwardly, owing to the backward position of the legs. Because of the apparent absence of a tail, and the singular ruffs or crests, the aspect of these birds is peculiar. They nest in ponds, lakes, and rivers, generally building among reeds or rushes, and lay several, usually 6 or 8, elliptical whole-colored eggs. One of the best-known species is the common dabchick of Europe, Podiceps or Sylbeocyclus minor. The grebe known in America as the dabchiok is Podilymbus podiceps. The largest is the spear-billed or western grebe, Æchmophorus occidentalis, peculiar to western North America. (See cut under Æchmophorus.) The great grebe is a conspicuously crested species of the old world, Podiceps cristatus. The European red-necked grebe is P. griseigena, a variety of which, P. holboelli, also inhabits North America. The Slavonian or horned grebe, P. cornutus, is common in most parts of the northern hemisphere; the eared grebe, P. auritus or nigricollis, is closely related to it. Some of the grebes reach 2 feet in length, but most of them are much smaller. The plumage of the breast is of a beautiful silvery luster and satiny texture, and is much used to ornament ladies' hats, for muffs, etc. Grebes have many local popular names, as arse-foot, dabchick, didapper, dipper, dopper, helldiver, and waterwitch.

Wiktionary

1. n. Any of several waterbirds in the cosmopolitan family Podicipedidae. They have strong, sharp bills, and lobate toes.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) One of several swimming birds or divers, of the genus Colymbus (formerly Podiceps), and allied genera, found in the northern parts of America, Europe, and Asia. They have strong, sharp bills, and lobate toes.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. small compact-bodied almost completely aquatic bird that builds floating nests; similar to loons but smaller and with lobate rather than webbed feet