great auk
noun
: an extinct large flightless auk (Pinguinus impennis) formerly abundant along North Atlantic coasts
Examples of great auk in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The great auk was a valuable commodity for hunters who sought the bird’s feathers for down or use in fashion, particularly in the production of fancy hats and other garments.
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Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 May 2025
Of all the grim capitalist crimes against American animals (and there is competition), among them are the 1840s extinction of our northern hemisphere penguin, the great auk, and an 1886 sale in London of the skins of 400,000 American hummingbirds.
—Dan Flores, Time, 29 May 2025
By the mid-1800s, the great auk was no longer found in the wild.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 May 2025
The great auk’s extinction was primarily driven by hunting for its meat, eggs and feathers, as well as the collection of its down for use in bedding and clothing.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
Alcids are a comparatively younger family of birds, but at least one alcid species -- the great auk found in the northern Atlantic -- lost its ability to fly, though great auks went extinct in the mid-19th century due to hunting them for their down feathers.
—Joshua Learn | Inside Science, ABC News, 16 Jan. 2022
The same technique could be used to study the last days of other extinct birds with interesting evolutionary histories, including the great auk, Haast's eagle and that poster child for extinction, the dodo.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 10 Mar. 2010
This is a great auk, which was driven to extinction.
—Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2022
Museums and merchants started paying top dollar for great auk eggs and skins.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2019
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Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 May 2025
Of all the grim capitalist crimes against American animals (and there is competition), among them are the 1840s extinction of our northern hemisphere penguin, the great auk, and an 1886 sale in London of the skins of 400,000 American hummingbirds.
—Dan Flores, Time, 29 May 2025
By the mid-1800s, the great auk was no longer found in the wild.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 4 May 2025
The great auk’s extinction was primarily driven by hunting for its meat, eggs and feathers, as well as the collection of its down for use in bedding and clothing.
—Scott Travers, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
Alcids are a comparatively younger family of birds, but at least one alcid species -- the great auk found in the northern Atlantic -- lost its ability to fly, though great auks went extinct in the mid-19th century due to hunting them for their down feathers.
—Joshua Learn | Inside Science, ABC News, 16 Jan. 2022
The same technique could be used to study the last days of other extinct birds with interesting evolutionary histories, including the great auk, Haast's eagle and that poster child for extinction, the dodo.
—Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 10 Mar. 2010
This is a great auk, which was driven to extinction.
—Dodie Kazanjian, Vogue, 10 Mar. 2022
Museums and merchants started paying top dollar for great auk eggs and skins.
—New York Times, 4 Dec. 2019
Cite this Entry
“Great auk.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/great%20auk. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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