A large extinct flightless auk (seabird) of the North Atlantic, resembling a giant razorbill. The great auk was the original ‘penguin’; many were taken for food, and the last individuals were killed on an islet off Iceland in 1844.
大海雀
Alca or 'Pinguinus' impennis, family Alcidae
Example sentencesExamples
The tiny island is home to one of the largest gannet colonies on the planet, and this is where the world's last two surviving great auks are reputed to have lived before they were killed by fishermen on 3 June 1844.
Before the great auk became extinct in the 1840s, you could have been pardoned for making the classic mistake and supposing there were penguins in the Arctic as well as the Antarctic, the cold north as well as the cold south.
Some have become extinct, the great auk, the passenger pigeon and the famous dodo bird have all disappeared.
Apart from the globally-extinct great auk, the bustard is the only bird known to have bred in Britain that hasn't done so in recent times.
In the early 19th century another alcid, the great auk, still inhabited the North Atlantic waters.
Definition of great auk in US English:
great auk
nounˌɡrāt ˈäkˌɡreɪt ˈɑk
A large, extinct, flightless auk (seabird) of the North Atlantic, resembling a giant razorbill. The great auk was the original “penguin”; many were taken for food, and the last individuals were killed on an islet off Iceland in 1844.
大海雀
Alca or 'Pinguinus' impennis, family Alcidae
Example sentencesExamples
Some have become extinct, the great auk, the passenger pigeon and the famous dodo bird have all disappeared.
In the early 19th century another alcid, the great auk, still inhabited the North Atlantic waters.
Apart from the globally-extinct great auk, the bustard is the only bird known to have bred in Britain that hasn't done so in recent times.
The tiny island is home to one of the largest gannet colonies on the planet, and this is where the world's last two surviving great auks are reputed to have lived before they were killed by fishermen on 3 June 1844.
Before the great auk became extinct in the 1840s, you could have been pardoned for making the classic mistake and supposing there were penguins in the Arctic as well as the Antarctic, the cold north as well as the cold south.