Pelican word meaning and definition

[noun] large long-winged warm-water seabird having a large bill with a distensible pouch for fish

\Pel"i*can\, n. [F. p['e]lican, L. pelicanus, pelecanus, Gr. ?, ?, ?, the woodpecker, and also a water bird of the pelican kind, fr. ? to hew with an ax, akin to Skr. para[,c]u.] [Written also {pelecan}.] 1. (Zo["o]l.) Any large webfooted bird of the genus {Pelecanus}, of which about a dozen species are known. They have an enormous bill, to the lower edge of which is attached a pouch in which captured fishes are temporarily stored. Note: The American white pelican ({Pelecanus erythrorhynchos}) and the brown species ({P. fuscus}) are abundant on the Florida coast in winter, but breed about the lakes in the Rocky Mountains and British America. 2. (Old Chem.) A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation. Note: The principle is still employed in certain modern forms of distilling apparatus. {Frigate pelican} (Zo["o]l.), the frigate bird. See under {Frigate}. {Pelican fish} (Zo["o]l.), deep-sea fish ({Eurypharynx pelecanoides}) of the order {Lyomeri}, remarkable for the enormous development of the jaws, which support a large gular pouch. {Pelican flower} (Bot.), the very large and curiously shaped blossom of a climbing plant ({Aristolochia grandiflora}) of the West Indies; also, the plant itself. {Pelican ibis} (Zo["o]l.), a large Asiatic wood ibis ({Tantalus leucocephalus}). The head and throat are destitute of feathers; the plumage is white, with the quills and the tail greenish black. {Pelican in her piety} (in heraldry and symbolical art), a representation of a pelican in the act of wounding her breast in order to nourish her young with her blood; -- a practice fabulously attributed to the bird, on account of which it was adopted as a symbol of the Redeemer, and of charity. {Pelican's foot} (Zo["o]l.), a marine gastropod shell of the genus {Aporrhais}, esp. {Aporrhais pes-pelicani} of Europe.

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