ˈrazor-bill
[f. razor n. + bill n.2]
1. A name given to various birds. a. A species of auk (Alca torda).
| 1674 Ray Collect. Words, Water Fowl 92 The Rasor-bill: Auk or Murre. 1768 Pennant Zool. II. 403 Razor-bill... These birds, in company with the Guillemot, appear in our seas the beginning of February. 1865 Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 40 The guillemots sitting in rows,..bolt upright, the manner of sitting common to the puffins and razor-bills. |
b. U.S. The Cut-water or Skimmer. rare—1.
| 1794 Morse Amer. Geog. (1796) I. 214 Shear Water or Razor Bill. 1832 in Webster. |
c. ‘The red-breasted merganser, Mergus serrator’ (Hants Gloss. 1883).
2. attrib. Razor-billed.
| 1894 Westm. Gaz. 9 Aug. 4/2 A young razorbill puffin came alongside. |
So ˈrazor-billed a., having a bill resembling a razor (applied spec. to certain birds: see quots.).
| 1748 Catesby California App. 103 The Razor⁓billed Black-bird of Jamaica. This Bird is somewhat less than our Jack-daw. 1824 Latham Gen. Hist. Birds X. 63 Razor⁓billed Auk. |