auk

American  

[awk] / ɔk /

noun

1. any of several usually black-and-white diving birds of the family Alcidae, of northern seas, having webbed feet and small wings.

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auk British  

/ ɔːk /

noun

1. any of various diving birds of the family Alcidae of northern oceans having a heavy body, short tail, narrow wings, and a black-and-white plumage: order Charadriiformes See also great auk razorbill auk

2. a small short-billed auk, Plautus alle, abundant in Arctic regions

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Etymology

Origin of auk

1665–75; < Scandinavian; compare Old Norse alka

Example Sentences

The Hall of Extinction and Hope analogizes manmade climate change and habitat destruction to a slow-moving asteroid that has already obliterated species such as the passenger pigeon, dodo and great auk.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2025

"The little auk, also known as the dovekie, emerges as a sentinel species in monitoring Arctic environmental shifts," says Dr. Anders Mosbech, co-author from Aarhus University.

From Science Daily • Mar. 15, 2024

Interest in the subject has accelerated because of die-offs of some of the puffin’s auk family relatives, such ascommon murres and Cassin’s auklets off the West Coast.

From Seattle Times • Aug. 29, 2023

The last confirmed sighting off a great auk took place on an island off Iceland, in 1844, but it’s likely that stray birds lived on for years, even decades.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 30, 2014

I named it Auk I, after the great auk, an extinct bird that couldn’t fly.

From "October Sky" by Homer Hickam