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Glite Dictionary
auk

auk

1 9.1
A black-and-white sea bird that dives for fish and lives on northern cliffs
  • noun
  • /ɔk/
translation icon : auk
  • Europe's breeding bird species have fared even better, with only a single species (the great auk) having become extinct in modern times.
  • the great auk
  • the extinct auk

Examples

  • Auk I.

    October Sky (1999)

  • You poor old auk.

    Rare Birds (2001)

  • What the hell is auk?

    October Sky (1999)

  • Roy Lee: What's an auk?

    Fiction book (1999)

  • The booby raised no objection to being a booby, nor did the auk to being an auk.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • The booby raised no objection to being a booby, nor did the auk to being an auk.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • And the old woman came to the Great Auk and could practically hear him say his name as she stood before the antique specimen, his feathers soft as velvet, his wings spread, her hand on the glass as if he could be frightened away.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • (WHIMPERS) - Whaah-auk!

    Norm of the North (2016)

  • The great auk was known for its distinctive black-and-white coloration and was a skilled diver.

  • The ornithologist described the nesting habits of a rare auk species found in northern waters.

Compounds

little auk
9.9

A small sea bird with a short beak that lives in the Arctic

great auk
9.9

A large seabird that could not fly and lived on rocky islands in the northern Atlantic and is now extinct

razor-billed auk
  • Specialized
9.9

A black-and-white seabird with a thin, sharp bill that catches fish

Surface Forms

auk singular
auks plural

Etymology

Auk comes from an old Norse word alka, which meant a black-and-white 'sea bird'. A helpful way to remember it is to think of an auk like a northern penguin, because both are short-necked, web-footed diving birds that catch fish, so auk means that kind of sea bird.