laughing gull

noun

: an American gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) having a black head in breeding plumage and black wing tips blending into the gray upper side of the wings

Examples of laughing gull in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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At least three birds — two brown pelicans and a laughing gull — were killed by the oil spill, and the Coast Guard spotted at least nine other birds clearly suffering from the spill. Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 20 May 2024 The sandpipers had already migrated, and the laughing gulls were long gone. Latria Graham, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024 Investigators told the station that the injured seagull described as a laughing gull was later euthanized because of a broken wing. Garfield Hylton, Orlando Sentinel, 5 May 2022 Two little gulls and a lingering laughing gull in Westport Harbor, a greater yellowlegs in Dartmouth and a flock of 16 red crossbills in the Freetown-Fall River State Forest. Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Dec. 2022 In Hampshire County, notable sightings at the Oxbow Marina included a black-bellied plover, a ruddy turnstone, a whimbrel, and a laughing gull. BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021 Wachusett Reservoir hosted 16 common mergansers, three Bonaparte’s gulls, a laughing gull, and a common tern. BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021 Also affected: Up to 32 percent of laughing gulls and up to a quarter of all brown pelicans. National Geographic, 17 Apr. 2020 Sightings at Race Point in Provincetown included a royal tern, 5 parasitic jaegers, 1,100 laughing gulls, 2 least terns, 175 roseate terns, 2,800 common terns, 4 species of shearwater, and 2 common ravens. BostonGlobe.com, 24 Sep. 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1731, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of laughing gull was in 1731

Dictionary Entries Near laughing gull

Cite this Entry

“Laughing gull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laughing%20gull. Accessed 6 Dec. 2024.

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