fulmar

Definition

Either of two species of pelagic seabird in the genus Fulmarus, Fulmarus glacialis and F. glacialoides, which breed on cliffs.

Etymology

From Icelandic fúlmár, from Old Norse fúlmár, from Old Norse fúll (“foul”) + már (“gull, mew”) (see English mew), evidently in reference to the foul-smelling vomit it ejects to deter predators.

Example Sentences

• "In the southern districts, the Inuit hunted fulmars with bird darts from kayaks (Helms 1926). The Nipisat people may have hunted fulmar and great shearwater, probably using similar methods."
• "In particular, fulmars have the distinctive trait of vomiting half-digested fish oil when approached on the nest and should be given a wide berth wherever possible."
• "And why oh why is it always bloody fulmars following us about? Have they got nothing better to do, these silly lickspittle fulmars, than to ape every petty twist and turn of our hollow peregrinations? I'm sick of fulmars."