Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Any of several large sea ducks, especially of the genus Somateria of northern regions, having soft, commercially valuable down and predominantly black and white plumage in the male.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Same as
eiderduck . - noun Same as
eider-down .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) Any species of sea duck of the genus Somateria, esp.
Somateria mollissima , which breeds in the northern parts of Europe and America, and lines its nest with fine down (taken from its own body) which is an article of commerce; -- called alsoeider duck . The American eider (S. Dresseri ), the king eider (S. spectabilis ), and the spectacled eider (Arctonetta Fischeri ) are related species. - noun Down of the eider duck, much sought after as an article of luxury.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Any of the species of the
genera Polysticta orSomateria , in theseaduck subfamilyMerginae , which line their nests with fine down (taken from their own bodies).
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun duck of the northern hemisphere much valued for the fine soft down of the females
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Iceland, there is a bird called the eider duck, which is much valued on account of the soft and beautiful down which grows upon its breast, and is used for pillows and counterpanes, being wonderfully light, warm and elastic.
Mamma's Stories about Birds Mary Elizabeth Southwell Dudley Leathley 1858
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After seeing that, I really wanted something by Roni, so I got one of her images of these eider duck nests that are really protected there because people want their feathers.
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The wind and rain lashed a peridot sea, and the only sign of life we spotted was a lone eider duck bobbing in the surf well away from shore.
"The needle sticks and the penny drops." greygirlbeast 2010
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The wind and rain lashed a peridot sea, and the only sign of life we spotted was a lone eider duck bobbing in the surf well away from shore.
"The needle sticks and the penny drops." greygirlbeast 2010
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Mar. 5th, 2010 01: 25 am (UTC) "The wind and rain lashed a peridot sea, and the only sign of life we spotted was a lone eider duck bobbing in the surf well away from shore."
"The needle sticks and the penny drops." greygirlbeast 2010
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They might have been either murres or eider ducks; we didn't have the binoculars, so we're not sure.
"While my feet are the trunks and my head is the canopy, high..." greygirlbeast 2009
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Just offshore some mallard and pintail – birds usually found on fresh water – were bobbing up and down on the waves, along with two truly marine ducks, an eider and a common scoter.
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For bird species that are already of conservation concern such as the golden-cheeked warbler, whooping crane, and spectacled eider, the added vulnerability to climate change may hasten declines or prevent recovery.
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Dats wut happnd befoar band eet wudn mii lawg in tu mai purrfyle eider!
Nobody’s stripes - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2010
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Polar bears, walruses, seals, whales and ocean-going birds like eider ducks and loons call the Arctic Ocean home.
Bush-era Policies 2009
Comments
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