Definition

Noun: 1. A large, dark-colored seabird with a long neck: A cormorant is a type of water bird known for its dark plumage, long neck, and a throat pouch that can expand to hold fish. 2. A voracious or greedy person (figurative): By extension, "cormorant" can describe a person who is insatiably greedy or rapacious, consuming resources excessively.

Usage

• Literal (Bird):
  • We saw a cormorant diving for fish in the bay.
  • The cormorant spread its wings to dry on the rocky cliff.
• Figurative (Person):
  • The landlord was a cormorant, demanding ever-higher rents from his tenants.
  • He ate like a cormorant, devouring everything on the table.

Advanced Usage

• "Cormorant fishing": A traditional fishing method, primarily practiced in East Asia, where trained cormorants are used to catch fish.
  • Cormorant fishing is a centuries-old tradition on the Li River.

Variants and Related Words

• Cormorant (adj.): Used attributively to describe something related to or characteristic of the bird or its figurative meaning (e.g., ).
• Phalacrocorax: The scientific genus name for most cormorants.

Synonyms

• For the bird: seabird, waterbird, diving bird.
• For the figurative meaning: glutton, gourmand, voracious eater; greedy person, rapacious individual.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• To have a cormorant's appetite: To have an insatiable or extremely large appetite.
  • After the marathon, he had a cormorant's appetite.

Noun

1. large voracious dark-colored long-necked seabird with a distensible pouch for holding fish; used in Asia to catch fish