Dictionary

sea drake en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A sea dragon.
   • When, after the death of the son, Beowulf and his companions pursued the mother into her retreat, they found the water full of sea-drakes and serpents (wyrm-cynnes fela), and nicers lying on the banks. 1834 July, “The National Fairy Mythology of England”, in Fraser's Magazine for Town and Country, volume 10, page 53:
   • The sea drake uncoiled from the palace as they approached . 2020, Natalie Grey, Saira & the Dragon's Egg:
   • Sea drakes are also known to travel up the Rhone river to spawn in Lake Geneva, creating a hazard for shipping. 2011, Jason Rice, Brent Evanger, Kingdoms of Legend: Knights of France, page 23:
   • The monster, a subspecies of dragon, was a sea drake. 2024, Hagure Metabo, A Livid Lady's Guide to Getting Even:
2. (UK) The pewit gull, or sea cormorant (Corvus marinus)
   • The gardener found birds frozen to their branches, yet at the base of the same tree, a flock of sea-drakes and hens were perfectly unharmed! 2024, David Marcum, The MX Book of New Sherlock Holmes Stories - Part XLIV:
3. (US) A male eider.
   • Another of our regular visiters from the North is the EIDER DUCK , which furnishes the fine down that is so valuable an article of commerce. On our coast this bird is commonly known by the name of the SEA DRAKE. 1832, The New-England Magazine - Volume 2, page 103:
   • They are universally known as "Sea-ducks," the males being always distinguished as "Sea-drakes." 1862, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences, page 240:
   • That is why, when looking for the cock-a-wee, the harlequin, or any of the big sea drakes, I may sometimes, like Wordsworth, " Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn. 1963, The Narragansett Naturalist - Volumes 6-9, page 5:

Forms