loon
12
8.1
- noun
- /luːn/
- US
:
colimbo
- Certain Native American tribes of the Northern plains believed loons were ancestral spirits, trying to communicate with the physical world.
- the common loon
I studied natural things, all manner of plants, Birds I draw now in my book, Wren Willett, Egret Loon, tending the gardens.
- I studied natural things, all manner of plants, Birds I draw now in my book, Wren Willett, Egret Loon, tending the gardens.
Examples
-
Occasionally, eagles whistled at one another overhead, or a loon called out across the lake.
Academic text (1990) -
Out on the lake, there were two loons, calling to each other in their insane, mournful voices.
Fiction book (1990) -
If you look at a picture of a loon on land, you have to smile.
Fiction book (2001) -
What we thought was a wolf this whole time was a loon, which is pretty much a duck.
-
I never saw such big loons in my life.
-
The recorded lapping of the waves and the repeated loon calls raised goosebumps on her arms.
Fiction book (1996) -
Recalling the thrilling cry of a loon in the stillness of an Adirondack evening, I certainly hoped so.
Fiction book (2001) -
We saw a beautiful loon gracefully diving into the clear lake water.
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The loon called out its haunting cry as it floated on the surface.
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During our hike, we spotted several loons swimming in the calm bay.
Synonyms
4
5.7
A large northern water bird with webbed feet that goes underwater to catch fish
A bird like a loon that lives on northern lakes and the sea
Surface Forms
Etymology
Loon comes from an old Norse word lómr meaning 'call' or 'cry', because the bird's high, eerie call is what people hear on quiet northern lakes. So a loon is the large, fish-eating diving bird often heard calling at dawn.