kittiwake

American

[kit-ee-weyk] / ˈkɪt iˌweɪk /

noun

either of two small, pearl-gray gulls of the genus Rissa, the black-legged R. tridactyla of the North Atlantic and the red-legged and red-billed R. brevirostris, of the Bering Sea, both nesting on narrow cliff ledges and having a rudimentary hind toe.

kittiwake British

/ ˈkɪtɪˌweɪk /

noun

either of two oceanic gulls of the genus Rissa, esp R. tridactyla, having a white plumage with pale grey black-tipped wings and a square-cut tail

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of kittiwake

First recorded in 1655–65; imitative

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Today, ten of the UK's 25 breeding seabird species are on the Red List, among them the puffin and the kittiwake.

From BBC

Sometimes she even forgot that he wasn’t just somewhere else on the island, measuring the bubbles at the Hissing Stones or counting eggs in a kittiwake’s nest.

From Literature

"Safeguarding sandeel stocks is a key part of the jigsaw that will help set our puffins, kittiwakes and the wider marine environment on the path to recovery."

From BBC

The largest number expected to be killed are kittiwakes followed by gannets and herring gulls.

From BBC

But it is a favourite food of other fish species like cod and haddock, as well as threatened seabirds such as puffins and kittiwakes.

From BBC

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023