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stork definition

stork (stôrk)

noun pl. storks or stork

any of a family (Ciconiidae) of large, long-legged, mostly Old World wading birds having a long neck and bill; esp., the European white stork (Ciconia ciconia) that nests on rooftops and in trees: a symbol of childbirth, from the notion perpetrated in euphemistic tales to children that it brings newborn babies

Etymology: ME < OE storc, akin to Ger storch < IE *sterg- < base *(s)ter-, stiff > stare: so named from its stiff-legged walk

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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