Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A large falcon (Falco rusticolus) of Arctic regions, having color phases that range from black to gray to white.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See gerfalcon.
Wiktionary
- n. obsolete Any large falcon, especially as used to fly at herons.
- n. A large bird of prey that breeds on Arctic coasts and islands of North America, Europe and Asia.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) One of several species and varieties of large Arctic falcons, esp. Falco rusticolus and the white species Falco Islandicus, both of which are circumpolar. The black and the gray are varieties of the former. See
Illust. of accipiter.
WordNet 3.0
- n. large and rare Arctic falcon having white and dark color phases
Etymologies
- From Old French gerfaucon (modern French gerfaut), with the first element probably from Old High German gīr ("vulture") (whence the German Geier). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English girfaucoun, from Old French girfaut, gerfaucon : Old High German gīr, vulture + Old French faucon, falcon; see falcon. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The bony fingers that grabbed her wrist this time had all the strength of a gyrfalcon.”
“At one time, the type of falcon an Englishman was allowed to own marked his rank: a king carried the gyrfalcon; an earl, the peregrine; a yeoman, the goshawk; the priest, the sparrow hawk; and a servant, the kestrel.”
“Last night the two had finally been spotted just before sunset, and the gryphon in question, a gyrfalcon-type with amazing speed, had come rushing back to the Vale as fast as she could with the news.”
“Cliffs along the Yukon and Porcupine Rivers support several raptor species, including osprey, gyrfalcon, Swainson's hawk, and the endangered American peregrine falcon.”
“The gyrfalcon held in its talons the quill of a peacock feather showing a brilliant eye, the blind eye of Chance.”
“I was not supposed to be a gyrfalcon; I was supposed to be a thrush.”
“He wore old hunting leathers stamped with a green fletch pattern, and a velvet hat with a golden gyrfalcon broach.”
“I had fancied myself a gyrfalcon or a fox, a hunter, when I was just an insignificant brown bird, a wren in borrowed plumage.”
“Not only do depictions of wildlife appear as art -- carved into the ice walls of the lodge's suites -- but wild reindeer, musk oxen, and gyrfalcon (the world's largest falcon) populate this alpine region.”
Wired: Gayired.com - Gay OnLine Community for Entertainment and Daily News
“Big – a first-year gyrfalcon – and little – a downy/pin-y merlin.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gyrfalcon’.
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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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set phasers to...
you name the setting
I've tuned mine to be gentler and kinder
following suit is not mandatory but would be appreciatedcoddle, confuse, flummox, tap, furrow, instigate, invigorate, punnify, logical, must... act... be..., bowdlerise, laughing gas and 435 more...
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birds
birds with singular names from
at least 9 English dictionariesaasvogel, aberdevine, accentor, accipiter, aepyornis, agami, albatross, alcatras, alcid, alcidine, amadavat, amokura and 1056 more...
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More Bird Wirds: North America
Birds endemic to the United States and/or North America.
toucan, peacock, weaver, bullfinch, redpoll, siskin, crossbill, finch, rosy-finch, oriole, cowbird, blackbird and 213 more...
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noble mythical words
halcyon, yore, chevalier, geas, dour, clarion, codex, selkie, mythic, rime, hoarfrost, eldritch and 112 more...
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Alaska
Names of places, animals, plants, people, etc. found in and around Alaska.
grizzly, coho, roe, koyukon, chinook, sockeye, king salmon, chum, dog salmon, kipper, kelt, baggit and 221 more...
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Clearinghouse
For stuff to simply reside.
calcar, pinion, espadrille, antipodes, peregrine, cormorant, tanager, vireo, farrago, undervest, passerine, oscine and 881 more...
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Conference of the Birds
I like bird names, raptors in particular. That's all.
raptor, eagle, gyrfalcon, gyrkin, haggard, harrier, falcon, peregrine, hawk, lammergeier, kite, kestrel and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for gyrfalcon.
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