petrel : Dictionary / Wörterbuch (BEOLINGUS, TU Chemnitz)

English Dictionary: petrel	by the DICT Development Group
2 results for petrel
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
petrel n relatively small long-winged tube-nosed bird that flies far from land
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
Petrel \Pe"trel\, n. [F. p[82]trel; a dim. of the name Peter, L. Petrus, Gr. [?] a stone (--John i. 42); -- probably so called in allusion to St. Peter's walking on the sea. See {Petrify}.] (Zo[94]l.) Any one of numerous species of longwinged sea birds belonging to the family {Procellarid[91]}. The small petrels, or Mother Carey's chickens, belong to {{Oceanites}}, {{Oceanodroma}}, {{Procellaria}}, and several allied genera. {Diving petrel}, any bird of the genus {Pelecanoides}. They chiefly inhabit the southern hemisphere. {Fulmar petrel}, {Giant petrel}. See {Fulmar}. {Pintado petrel}, the Cape pigeon. See under {Cape}. {Pintado petrel}, any one of several small petrels, especially {Procellaria pelagica}, or Mother Carey's chicken, common on both sides of the Atlantic.