albatross
The definition of an albatross is a sea bird characterized by their webbed feet, long and slender wings and their ability to remain in the air for a long time.
(noun)The bird in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is an example of an albatross.
Albatross is defined as guilt or a burden.
(noun)Cheating on one's wife and carrying around the secret for decades is an example of something that could become an albatross.
See albatross in Webster's New World College Dictionary
noun pl. albatrosses or albatross
- any of a family (Diomedeidae) of large, web-footed tubenose birds found chiefly in the South Seas: they have long, narrow wings and a long, hooked beak
Origin: from the bird used as a symbol of guilt in a poem by Samuel Taylor Coleridge
a burden or source of distress, esp. one that impairs effective action: often in the phrase
Origin: altered, prob. infl. by albus, white < Sp alcatraz, lit., pelican < Port, pelican, orig., bucket < Ar al qādūs, water-wheel basket, scoop < Gr kados, cask, jar; prob. < Heb kad, water jug
See albatross in American Heritage Dictionary 4
noun pl. albatross albatross or al·ba·tross·es
- Any of several large web-footed birds constituting the family Diomedeidae, chiefly of the oceans of the Southern Hemisphere, and having a hooked beak and long narrow wings.
- a. A constant, worrisome burden.b. An obstacle to success.
Origin:
Origin: Probably alteration (influenced by Latin albus, white)
Origin: of alcatras, pelican
Origin: , from Portuguese
Origin: or Spanish alcatraz
Origin: , from Arabic al-ġaṭṭās
Origin: : al-, the
Origin: + ġaṭṭās, diver, sea eagle (from ġaṭasa, to plunge, dive; see ġṭs in Semitic roots)
Origin: . Sense 2, after the albatross in “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, which the mariner killed and had to wear around his neck as a penance
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