pelican
Americannoun
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any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.
-
a still or retort with two tubes that leave the body from the neck, curve in opposite directions, and reenter the body through the belly.
noun
Etymology
Origin of pelican
before 1000; Middle English pellican, Old English < Late Latin pelicānus, variant of pelecān < Greek pelekā́n
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.
If time is tight, take the free narrated tram ride and stroll through the 25,000-square-foot open-air aviary, home to over 250 injured birds—including pelicans—that can’t be returned to the wild.
From Salon
He flung his huge pelican wings out to catch himself, but only succeeded in knocking down both Normans, too.
From Literature
In 2024, the graffiti artist created an animal trail around the capital with pieces featuring a goat, elephants, a gorilla, monkeys, piranhas, a rhino and pelicans among other animals.
From BBC
But there’s a payoff waiting at the point, where tides lap on a little sand beach, waves crash on dramatic black rocks and pelicans perch on sea stacks.
From Los Angeles Times
Elegant terns cried and circled in the distance, and pelicans flew from the ocean to the lagoon, so close overhead sometimes I could hear the flapping of their heavy wings.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
