Pelican /(pĕl"ĭ*kan)/
Pel·i·can
Pelican
n.
- 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. (Zool.)
- A retort or still having a curved tube or tubes leading back from the head to the body for continuous condensation and redistillation. (Old Chem.)
Phrases & Compounds
- Frigate pelican
- the frigate bird. See under Frigate.
- Pelican fish
- 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
- the very large and curiously shaped blossom of a climbing plant (Aristolochia grandiflora) of the West Indies; also, the plant itself.
- Pelican ibis
- 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
- 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
- a marine gastropod shell of the genus Aporrhais, esp. Aporrhais pes-pelicani of Europe.