guano

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They have to wear iron masks, as the fresh guano is stronger than volatile salts, and more penetrating than coal-dust The bird which produces the guano is a sort of tern, with red bill and legs.

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Definitions (8)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A substance composed chiefly of the dung of sea birds or bats, accumulated along certain coastal areas or in caves and used as fertilizer.
  2. noun Any of various similar substances, such as a fertilizer prepared from ground fish parts.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (4)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (1)

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Examples (50)

  • So, although bird guano is a natural fertilizer, it is the first example of a fertilizer which links agriculture with an imported, highly concentrated form of nutrients, presaging the use of human-made chemically-derived fertilizers. catalyst to create ammonia, ammonia nitrate, and urea. —  Featured Articles - Encyclopedia of Earth
  • The islands are covered in birg droppings (50 metres deep in some places) called guano which is apparently a good fertilizer. —  TravelPod.com Recent Updates
  • If their guano is pink, they're eating krill; if the guano is white, fish and invertebrates are the meal du jour; and if green, they're fasting or starving, and ejecting stomach bile. —  MoJo Blogs and Articles
  • They have to wear iron masks, as the fresh guano is stronger than volatile salts, and more penetrating than coal-dust The bird which produces the guano is a sort of tern, with red bill and legs. —  A Voyage round the World A book for boys
  • "My dear, the guano will be here to-day; so the horses will be wanted all the week--remember that." —  The Bertrams
 

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This word has been looked up 84 times.

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Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Spanish, from Quechua huanu, dung.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. Spanish guano, huano, from Peruvian huanu, dung.
  2. from guano, n.
 

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/ˈgwɑnoʊ/
by American Heritage

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