Hypertext Webster Gateway: "cormorant"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Cormorant
(Lev. 11:17; Deut. 14:17), Heb. shalak, "plunging," or "darting
down," (the Phalacrocorax carbo), ranked among the "unclean"
birds; of the same family group as the pelican. It is a
"plunging" bird, and is common on the coasts and the island seas
of Palestine. Some think the Hebrew word should be rendered
"gannet" (Sula bassana, "the solan goose"); others that it is
the "tern" or "sea swallow," which also frequents the coasts of
Palestine as well as the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan valley
during several months of the year. But there is no reason to
depart from the ordinary rendering.
In Isa. 34:11, Zeph. 2:14 (but in R.V., "pelican") the Hebrew
word rendered by this name is _ka'ath_. It is translated
"pelican" (q.v.) in Ps. 102:6. The word literally means the
"vomiter," and the pelican is so called from its vomiting the
shells and other things which it has voraciously swallowed. (See {PELICAN}.)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Cormorant \Cor"mo*rant\ (k[^o]r"m[-o]*rant), n. [F. cormoran,
fr. Armor. m[=o]r-vran a sea raven; m[=o]r sea + bran raven,
with cor, equiv. to L. corvus raven, pleonastically prefixed;
or perh. fr. L. corvus marinus sea raven.]
1. (Zo["o]l.) Any species of {Phalacrocorax}, a genus of sea
birds having a sac under the beak; the shag. Cormorants
devour fish voraciously, and have become the emblem of
gluttony. They are generally black, and hence are called
{sea ravens}, and {coalgeese}. [Written also {corvorant}.]
2. A voracious eater; a glutton, or gluttonous servant. --B.
Jonson.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
cormorant
n : large voracious dark-colored long-necked seabird with a
distensible pouch for holding fish; used in Asia to catch
fish [syn: {Phalacrocorax carbo}]
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