auk

IPA/ɔːk/
IPA/ɔːk/

auk — noun

1. A black-and-white seabird with a short neck, a thick beak, and short wings that

1.nounB2
Definition

A black-and-white seabird with a short neck, a thick beak, and short wings that it uses to swim underwater while hunting for fish. Auks live in cold oceans of the northern hemisphere and come ashore only to breed.

Example

During a trip to Iceland, Sophia photographed an auk that had just caught a small fish.

photographed an auk

The Watanabe family watched a noisy colony of auks nesting on the cliffs of northern Norway.

colony of auks

Common collocations
  • colony of auks
  • auk species
  • auk population
  • common auk
  • rare auk
  • auk nesting site
  • auk chick
  • auk colony
Synonyms
  • puffin

    A type of auk with a large, colourful beak; puffins are smaller and have a more distinctive appearance.

  • guillemot

    Another member of the auk family; guillemots lay their eggs directly on cliff ledges rather than in burrows.

Grammar Patterns

auk + verb (dives/swims/nests)

Common Mistakes

I saw a penguin in Norway.
I saw an auk in Norway.
Penguins live only in the southern hemisphere; auks are the northern hemisphere's black-and-white diving seabirds.

Word family

  • auklet
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Auks, puffins, and guillemots all belong to the same bird family (Alcidae) found in the northern hemisphere. Puffins are smaller than most auks and have brightly coloured, triangular beaks that they lose after the breeding season. Guillemots are also alcids but lay their eggs directly on bare cliff ledges rather than in burrows. Penguins are the birds most often confused with auks because both are black-and-white, swim underwater, and live in cold regions — however, penguins live only in the southern hemisphere and cannot fly, while auks can fly and are found in the Arctic and North Atlantic. For example, 'A group of puffins with their orange beaks sat on the grassy cliff.' and 'Unlike penguins, auks can take off from the water and fly across the ocean.'

puffin ↗guillemot ↗penguin ↗

Etymology

Old NorseEnglish

The word 'auk' comes from Old Norse 'álka', the name for a type of seabird. English speakers borrowed it through northern dialects during the Viking Age settlement of Britain, and it has been used for these diving seabirds since the 1600s.