Mother Carey's chicken

Mother Car·ey's chicken

 (kâr′ēz)

n.

A petrel, especially a storm-petrel.

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[Possibly alteration and partial translation of Medieval Latin māter cāra, Virgin Mary : Latin māter, mother + Latin cāra, feminine of cārus, dear; see kā- in Indo-European roots.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Mother Carey's chicken

(ˈkɛərɪz)

n

(Animals) another name for storm petrel

[origin unknown]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Moth′er Car′ey's chick′en

(ˈkɛər iz)
n.

storm petrel.

[1760–70; orig. uncertain]

Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

Mother Carey's chicken - medium-sized storm petrel     Mother Carey's hen, Oceanites oceanicus storm petrel - any of various small petrels having dark plumage with paler underparts genus Oceanites, Oceanites - a genus of Hydrobatidae

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