pelican

[ pel-i-kuhn ]

noun

1. any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.
2. 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.

pelican

/ ˈpɛlɪkən /

noun

1. any aquatic bird of the tropical and warm water family Pelecanidae, such as P. onocrotalus ( white pelican ): order Pelecaniformes. They have a long straight flattened bill, with a distensible pouch for engulfing fish

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelican¹

before 1000; Middle English pellican, Old English < Late Latin pelicānus, variant of pelecān < Greek pelekā́n

Word History and Origins

Origin of pelican¹

Old English pellican, from Late Latin pelicānus, from Greek pelekān; perhaps related to Greek pelekus axe, perhaps from the shape of the bird's bill; compare Greek pelekas woodpecker

Example Sentences

The specific targets of these assaults—the eggs of ostriches, pelicans, and flamingoes among them—depends on the location within the vultures’ considerable range, which stretches across three continents.

From Nautilus

Among the animals it is credited with saving are icons such as the bald eagle, brown pelican, gray wolf and American alligator.

From Washington Post

When adaptations of John Grisham novels like The Pelican Brief and The Firm, epic stories totally devoid of superheroes like Titanic and Saving Private Ryan and comedies like Home Alone and Austin Powers, would bring in the big bucks.

From Time

During a recent trip, we spotted a pair of humpback whales, along with a colossal pod of dolphins who were in cahoots with the pelicans, staging an elaborate routine to round up fish for one another.

From Outside Online

Home to hippos, pelicans and lots of fish, this lake often becomes polluted with human wastes from the city.

From Science News For Students

Something can happen in Whittier this morning and by the afternoon the brothers in Pelican Bay know all about it.

From The Daily Beast

Gang warlords, locked down in Super Maxes like Pelican Bay pass on instructions to thousands of followers.

From The Daily Beast

At Pelican Bay, there are no windows, and there is no reason not to have windows.

From The Daily Beast

In 2011 a Minnesota farmer smashed thousands of eggs and young chicks of the federally protected American white pelican.

From The Daily Beast

I returned the following year with The Pelican Brief, then The Client.

From The Daily Beast

Pelican, bird of ill omen, go to thy hole and hide thy sorry face.'

From Project Gutenberg

His tone and expression satisfied us that pelican would not keep us from starving.

From Project Gutenberg

One day I captured a young pelican, and trained him to accompany me in my walks and assist me in my fishing operations.

From Project Gutenberg

But it was not impossible that there might be some other opening, and the Pelican crawled in search of it along the Java coast.

From Project Gutenberg

He said that if it were not that he had to go to Pelican Lake that very night he would go along and help blow up the old rascal.

From Project Gutenberg