scoter

noun

sco·ter | \ ˈskō-tər

How to pronounce scoter (audio)

\

plural scoters or scoter

Definition of scoter

: any of a genus (Melanitta) of sea ducks of chiefly coastal Eurasia, Canada, and the U.S. that have males with chiefly black plumage

Examples of scoter in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web There were reports of 120 white-winged scoters, five Western sandpipers, three American golden-plovers, three black skimmers, and three merlins. — BostonGlobe.com, "► Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge in Stow:," 23 Sep. 2019 Marine birds also included mallards, common scoters (a large sea duck), geese, cormorants, gannets, shags, auks, egrets and loons. — Ashley Strickland, CNN, "European Neanderthals ate fresh seafood, which may have given their brains a boost," 26 Mar. 2020 There was one lesser scaup at Horn Pond in Woburn, and a surf scoter at the Amelia Earhart Dam in Everett. — BostonGlobe.com, "Bird sightings," 16 Feb. 2020 Also at the Stockbridge bowl, there was a white-winged scoter and a red-necked grebe. — BostonGlobe.com, "Among reports was a painted bunting at the Cold Brook Preserve in Harwich.," 16 Dec. 2019 At Gooseberry Neck, there were 84 black scoters, three ruddy turnstones, three roseate terns, a great shearwater, a Northern gannet, two cliff swallows, and two orchard orioles. — BostonGlobe.com, "Bird sightings across the region," 30 June 2019 Out on the water, scoters, eiders, ducks, and various species of shorebirds are in almost constant view. — John Schandelmeier, Anchorage Daily News, "Some words on birds and their impact on Alaska and the rest of the world," 24 June 2018 The pintails, widgeon and shovelers have departed south, but mallards, scoters and a few teal are still hanging in there. — John Schandelmeier, Alaska Dispatch News, "Don’t be fooled by a lingering autumn. Winter is coming.," 4 Oct. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'scoter.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about scoter

Dictionary Entries near scoter

Scotch woodcock

Statistics for scoter

Cite this Entry

“Scoter.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scoter. Accessed 1 Mar. 2021.

Style: MLA

MLA

Chicago

APA

Merriam-Webster

WORD OF THE DAY

gazette

Listen to the pronunciation of gazette

See Definitions and Examples »

Get Word of the Day daily email!

Test Your Vocabulary

February 2021 Words of the Day Quiz

Which is a synonym of perdure?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

Anagram puzzles meet word search.

TAKE THE QUIZ