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Glite Dictionary
eider

eider

1 9.0
A large sea duck with very soft breast feathers used to fill warm bedding
  • noun
  • /ˈaɪdər/
translation icon : eider
  • In winter, large flocks of eiders can be seen swimming in the icy waters of the Northern Hemisphere.
  • eider duck
  • female eiders

Examples

  • Her father had taught her some of their names: eiders, dunlins, longspurs, phalaropes, golden plovers.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Apparently in an eider feather storehouse.

    Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

  • They say long ago one of our eiders left to cross the sea.

    Academic text (1993)

  • Female eiders were captured with hand nets predominantly at the end of incubation.

    Academic text (2018)

  • Female eiders nest in coastal areas, where they use the soft down from their breasts to line their nests.

  • The soft down from the breast of a female eider is highly valued for making warm bedding.

Synonyms

eider duck
vseider
6.7

A large sea duck from northern coasts whose female gives soft down used in quilts and pillows

is the same in meaning but omits the extra common animal word
Somateria
vseider
  • Specialized
9.9

A group of sea ducks called eiders with soft down feathers that live on cold northern coasts

refers to a single sea bird species prized for female down used to stuff bedding

Compounds

eider duck
6.7

A large sea duck from northern coasts whose female gives soft down used in quilts and pillows

Surface Forms

eider singular
eiders plural

Etymology

Eider comes from an old Scandinavian word æðr meaning 'eider duck'. The soft chest feathers of the female gave us the name eiderdown, so eider now means both the sea duck and the warm down used in quilts.