Petrel Definition

pĕtrəl
petrels
noun
A member of any of three families (esp. Procellariidae) of small, marine tubenose birds with long wings, including storm petrels and shearwaters.
Webster's New World
Any of various black, gray, or white pelagic seabirds of the order Procellariiformes, found mostly in the Southern Hemisphere.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Petrel

Noun

Singular:
petrel
Plural:
petrels

Origin of Petrel

  • Perhaps alteration of earlier pitteral (perhaps influenced by Saint Peter walking on the water, from the fact that the bird flies so close to the water as to appear to be walking on it)

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

  • Perhaps a diminutive of Peter, with reference to St. Peter's walking on the water (Matthew 14:29).

    From Wiktionary

Find Similar Words

Find similar words to petrel using the buttons below.

Words Starting With

Words Ending With

Unscrambles

petrel