Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. See gannet.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The solan-goose.
WordNet 3.0
- n. very large white gannet with black wing tips
Etymologies
- Middle English soland : Old Norse sūla, gannet + Old Norse önd, duck. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The very pickmaws and solan-geese out-bye yonder at the Bass hae ten times their sense!”
“Now and again you could see a solan dart down from the blue heavens into the blue of the sea, sending up a spurt of water twenty feet high as he disappeared; and far out there, between the red precipices and the ruffled waters beneath, white sea-fowl flew from crag to crag or dropped down upon the sea to rise and fall with the waves.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 27, June, 1873
“When that reverenced ascetic went to take up his residence in the wave-bounded solitude of the Farne Islands, he found the solan-geese there imbued with the wild habits common to their storm-nurtured race, and totally unconscious of the civilisation and refinement of their kinsmen who graze on commons, and hiss at children and dogs.”
“The dinner was made up chiefly of Scottish national dainties, and everything went well, save that the solan goose, a fragrant bird at all times, proved so underdone that Mr. Oldbuck threatened to fling it at the head of the housekeeper.”
Red Cap Tales Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North
“A long flight of solan geese could just be seen slowly sailing along the western horizon.”
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 24, March, 1873
“In severe winters, flocks of solan geese, locally denominated "barnacles," frequent the shores.”
The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 14, No. 396, October 31, 1829
“They cackled after me like solan-geese, but I shut and locked the door in their faces and led Aileen to her room.”
“Here Banks provided the Christmas dinner, shooting several solan geese, which were made into a pie, and were “eaten with great approbation; and in the evening all hands were as drunk as our forefathers used to be upon like occasions.””
“Beyond the keeper of the lighthouse there are only one or two families of poor fisher-folk, who sustain a precarious existence by their nets, and by the capture of cormorants and solan geese.”
“It'll be the mair pleisand a change for the solan geese, then," quoth Andie dryly.”
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