cormorant

cor·mo·rant

noun \ˈkȯrm-rənt, ˈkȯr-mə-, ˈkȯr-mə-ˌrant\

: a type of dark-colored bird that has a long neck and that eats fish that it catches in the ocean

Full Definition of CORMORANT

1

:  any of various dark-colored web-footed waterbirds (family Phalacrocoracidae, especially genus Phalacrocorax) that have a long neck, hooked bill, and distensible throat pouch

2

:  a gluttonous, greedy, or rapacious person

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Examples of CORMORANT

1. <Diamond Jim Brady was perhaps the most celebrated cormorant of the Gilded Age.>

Illustration of CORMORANT

Origin of CORMORANT

Middle English cormeraunt, from Middle French cormorant, from Old French cormareng, from corp raven + marenc of the sea, from Latin marinus — more at corbel, marine

First Known Use: 14th century

Related to CORMORANT

Synonyms

glutton, gorger, gormandizer, gourmand, hog, overeater, pig, stuffer, swiller

Related Words

feaster, trencherman; muncher; guzzler

Near Antonyms

dieter, nibbler, picker

Rhymes with CORMORANT

adamant, commandant, complaisant, confidant, confidante, corposant, Corybant, covenant, dilettante, disenchant, gallivant, hierophant, interplant, pitcher plant, power plant, rubber plant, spider plant, sycophant

cormorant

noun    (Concise Encyclopedia)

Any of the 26–30 species of water birds, constituting the family Phalacrocoracidae, that dive for and feed on fish, mainly those of little value to humans. In the Orient and elsewhere, these glossy black underwater swimmers have been tamed for fishing. Their guano is valued as a fertilizer. Cormorants live on seacoasts, lakes, and some rivers, nesting on cliffs or in bushes or trees. They have a long, hook-tipped bill, patches of bare skin on the face, and a small throat pouch (gular sac). The most widespread species is the common, or great, cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo), which grows up to 40 in. (100 cm) long and breeds from eastern Canada to Iceland, across Eurasia to Australia and New Zealand, and in parts of Africa.