PENGUIN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Penguin

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/pˈɛŋgwən/ Listen

noun

Penguin n.

(Zool.) Any bird of the order Impennes, or Ptilopteri. They are covered with short, thick feathers, almost scalelike on the wings, which are without true quills. They are unable to fly, but use their wings to aid in diving, in which they are very expert. See King penguin, under Jackass. Note: Penguins are found in the south temperate and antarctic regions. The king penguins (Aptenodytes Patachonica, and Aptenodytes longirostris) are the largest; the jackass penguins (Spheniscus) and the rock hoppers (Catarractes) congregate in large numbers at their breeding grounds.

(Bot.) The egg-shaped fleshy fruit of a West Indian plant (Bromelia Pinguin) of the Pineapple family; also, the plant itself, which has rigid, pointed, and spiny-toothed leaves, and is used for hedges. (Written also pinguin)

Arctic penguin (Zool.), the great auk. See Auk.

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Etymology of 'Penguin'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Penguin" Quotes from Famous Books

... the surface. In the Zoological Gardens I have seen the otter treat a fish in the same manner, much as a cat does a mouse: I do not know of any other instance where dame Nature appears so wilfully cruel. Another day, having placed myself between a penguin (Aptenodytes demersa) and the water, I was much amused by watching its habits. It was a brave bird; and till reaching the sea, it regularly fought and drove me backwards. Nothing less than heavy blows would have stopped ...

— The Voyage of the Beagle • Charles Darwin

... to part of the West Indies about Cape Breton, shaping their course thence north-eastwards, vntill they camme to the Island of Penguin," etc.—The voyage of master Hore, in The principall navigations, ...

— Notes & Queries, No. 4, Saturday, November 24, 1849 • Various

... of ornament, and pass their tanks without paying further heed to them. This is not the case with respect to the diving birds, which are beyond all question the centre of attraction in the fish-house. The birds comprise a darter, a cormorant, a guillemot, and a penguin. The first-named is seldom seen in this country. It is a largish bird with webbed feet, long thin neck, and spear-like bill. When swimming in the water with its body entirely submerged, it looks not unlike a snake ...

— Little Folks (Septemeber 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various

... steps were required, and many organs had to undergo modifications from the rudimental condition in which only they had as yet existed. We still see remaining an antitypal sketch of a wing adapted for flight in the scaly flapper of the penguin, and limbs first concealed beneath the skin, and then weakly protruding from it, were the necessary gradations before others should be formed fully adapted for locomotion.[C] Many more of these modifications should we behold, and more complete series of them, ...

— Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection - A Series of Essays • Alfred Russel Wallace

... upon reviving, in the cabin of a large whaling-ship (the Penguin) bound to Nantucket. Several persons were standing over me, and Augustus, paler than death, was busily occupied in chafing my hands. Upon seeing me open my eyes, his exclamations of gratitude and joy excited alternate laughter and tears from the rough-looking ...

— The Works of Edgar Allan Poe - Volume 3 (of 5) of the Raven Edition • Edgar Allan Poe

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