petrel

pet·rel  (ptrl)

n.

Any of numerous black, gray, or white sea birds of the order Procellariiformes.

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[Perhaps alteration of earlier pitteral (perhaps influenced by Saint Peter walking on the water, from the fact that the bird flies so close to the water as to appear to be walking on it).]

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petrel

Noun

a sea bird with a hooked bill and tubular nostrils, such as the albatross, storm petrel, or shearwater [variant of earlier pitteral]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

petrel - relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land oceanic bird, pelagic bird - bird of the open seas family Procellariidae, Procellariidae - petrels; fulmars; shearwaters; Procellaria aequinoctialis, white-chinned petrel - large black petrel of southern seas having a white mark on the chin giant fulmar, giant petrel, Macronectes giganteus - large brownish petrel chiefly of Antarctic seas fulmar, fulmar petrel, Fulmarus glacialis - heavy short-tailed oceanic bird of polar regions shearwater - long-winged oceanic bird that in flight skims close to the waves storm petrel - any of various small petrels having dark plumage with paler underparts