bidarka
(baɪˈdɑːkə)
Also baidarka, baidarke, bidarkee.
[ad. Russ. baĭdárka, pl. -ki, dim. of baĭdára an oomiak.]
In Alaska and adjacent regions, a portable canoe for one or more persons; a kayak.
| 1834 W. F. Tolmie Jrnl. 20 June (1963) 283 The youth took his departure—soon after a bidarka approached— paddled by two men—the officer sitting in the middle seat. 1868 F. Whymper Trav. Alaska 137 Their ‘baidarkes’ are similar to the Greenland ‘kyack’. 1894 Outing (U.S.) XXIII. 389/1 A one-hatch bidarka, or hunting boat, of the Aleutian Islands. 1898 Century Mag. LV. 672 Their kayaks and bidarkees. 1967 J. C. Beaglehole in Cook's Jrnls. (1967) III. i. 412 The small baidarka [was] the same as the Eskimo kayak. |