guillemot

noun
guil·​le·​mot | \ ˈgi-lə-ˌmät How to pronounce guillemot (audio) \

Definition of guillemot

1 British : a common murre (Uria aalge)
2 : any of a genus (Cepphus) of narrow-billed auks of northern seas

Examples of guillemot in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Tens of thousands of starving guillemots were washing up in the Netherlands. Rafil Kroll-zaidi, Harper's magazine, "Findings," 10 Apr. 2019 Common murres, known elsewhere as common guillemots, are an indicator of the health of an ecosystem. Dan Joling, The Seattle Times, "Alaska seabird deaths continue trend tied to warming ocean," 11 Aug. 2018 The story of how one of Britain’s biggest seabird colonies, once full of puffins, guillemots and razorbills, went silent this year due to climate change is a devastating read, via the Guardian. Aubrey Nagle, Philly.com, "Foreign-born adoptees deported, Strawberry Mansion questions high school plans | Morning Newsletter," 4 June 2018 The islands are also protected habitats for Manx shearwaters, northern fulmar, black-legged kittiwake, razorbill, guillemot, peregrine falcon and storm petrel. Julia Blakely, Smithsonian, "The True History of Luke Skywalker’s Monastic Retreat," 11 Jan. 2018 In Divoky's first years on the island, warming appeared to be good for the guillemot colony there. Yereth Rosen, Alaska Dispatch News, "Biologist who camped on Arctic island since 1970s has front-row seat to warming climate," 21 Sep. 2017 Other species, such as pacific herring and pigeon guillemots, also haven’t come close to returning to their pre-spill levels. National Geographic, "Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Devastated Killer Whales," 26 Jan. 2016 The Látrabjarg cliffs -- On the westernmost tip of Iceland is a 14-kilometer stretch of sea cliffs which are home to millions of birds including puffins, gannets, guillemots and razorbills. Kate Springer, CNN, "Turf homes: Inside the grass-topped farmhouses that defined Iceland," 8 Oct. 2017 Viking Age explorers followed ocean foragers such as guillemots and gannets to new shores. Cheryl Katz, Smithsonian, "Disappearing Puffins Bring an Icelandic Hunting Tradition Under Scrutiny," 17 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'guillemot.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of guillemot

circa 1672, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for guillemot

French, from Middle French, diminutive of Guillaume William

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