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petrel

UK/ˈpɛt.ɹəl/US/ˈpɛt.ɹəl/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechmostly written

Other forms: petrels

A petrel is a small sea bird that flutters just above the waves. A storm petrel.

It spends years at sea and comes to land only to nest, usually at night. The name may come from Saint Peter walking on the water, which is what the bird appears to do.

JJ Harrison (https://tiny.jjharrison.com.au/t/ZDNfwv2t2W8dvaar) · CC BY-SA 3.0

Definitions of petrel

  1. 1nounpetrelA small sea bird that flutters just above the waves.C2

    “A petrel followed the boat for the whole of the crossing.”

petrel is a bird.

Where it comes from

The name may be a diminutive of Peter, from the apostle walking on the water.

From earlier pitteral. Perhaps a diminutive of Peter, with reference to St. Peter's walking on the water (Matthew 14:29). A derivation from patter or pitter-patter has been suggested, for instance by ornithologist Elliott Ladd Coues.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Birds

Practise this word

petrel in the wild

  • Northern storm petrels are seabirds in the genus Hydrobates in the family Hydrobatidae, part of the order Procellariiformes.

    Northern storm petrel

  • The family was once lumped with the similar austral storm petrels in the combined storm petrels, but have been split, as they are not closely related.

    Northern storm petrel

  • The European storm petrel (Hydrobates pelagicus), also known as British storm petrel, or just storm petrel, is a species of seabird in the northern storm petrel family, Hydrobatidae.

    European storm petrel

  • The storm petrel nests in crevices and burrows, sometimes shared with other seabirds or rabbits, and lays a single white egg, usually on bare soil.

    European storm petrel

  • Leach's storm petrel or Leach's petrel (Hydrobates leucorhous) is a small seabird of the tubenose order.

    Leach's storm petrel

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.