mollymawk

mol·ly·mawk

M5407350 (mŏl′ē-môk′)n. An albatross, especially one of the genus Thalassarche, found in the Southern Hemisphere.

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[Alteration (influenced by Molly, nickname for Mary) of Dutch mallemok : mal, foolish (of unknown origin; probably applied to the birds because sailors found them easy to catch) + mok, seagull (of unknown origin).]

mollymawk

(ˈmɒlɪˌmɔːk) n (Animals) NZ an informal name for mallemuck

mol•ly•mawk

(ˈmɒl iˌmɔk)

n. any of various medium-sized tube-nosed seabirds, as the fulmar and, in Australian and New Zealand waters, the smaller species of albatross. [1685–95; < Dutch mallemok=malle, variant of mal foolish + mok < Norwegian mak mew²]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

mollymawk - large web-footed birds of the southern hemisphere having long narrow wings; noted for powerful gliding flightalbatrossoceanic bird, pelagic bird - bird of the open seasDiomedeidae, family Diomedeidae - albatrossesDiomedea exulans, wandering albatross - very large albatross; white with wide black wingsblack-footed albatross, Diomedea nigripes, gooney, gooney bird, goonie, goony - a variety of albatross with black feet