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booby
booby common name for some members of the family Sulidae, large, streamlined sea birds. Tropical and subtropical members of the family are called boobies; those of northern waters are called gannets. These birds have heavy bodies; long, pointed wings; long, wedge-shaped tails; and short, stout legs. They fish by diving on their prey from great heights and pursuing it underwater; air sacs under their skin cushion the impact with the water and provide buoyancy, as with pelicans. The masked, red-footed ( Sula sula ), and brown ( S. leucogaster ) boobies are found the world over; the Peruvian and blue-footed ( S. nebouxii ) boobies, on the west coasts of the Americas; and the Abbott's booby, in the Indian Ocean. The common gannet of the North Atlantic, Morus bassanus, breeds in the British Isles, in the Gaspé region of Canada, and on Bird Island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A Pacific gannet is one of the chief guano producers of the offshore islands of Peru. Gannets build crude nests of debris on narrow cliff ledges. The female lays a single egg, which she and the male incubate by covering it with their feet. Gannets have strong migration tendencies, while the boobies do not. The name booby is descriptive not only of the rather stupid facial expression of these birds, but also of their unwary, gullible behavior when hunted by man—a factor that accounts for their diminishing numbers. Boobies and gannets are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Pelecaniformes, family Sulidae. |
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"booby." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "booby." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-booby.html "booby." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-booby.html |
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booby
booby, a seabird of the gannet family which often perched on the yards of square-rigged ships in the days of sail. The name came from the ease with which it allowed itself to be caught after it had settled. ‘One of the Saylers espying a Bird fitly called a Booby, he mounted to the topmast and took her. The quality of which Bird is to sit still, not valuing danger’ ( Sir T. Herbert, Travels (1634)).
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"booby." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "booby." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-booby.html "booby." The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea. 2006. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O225-booby.html |
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booby
boo·by1 / ˈboōbē/ • n. (pl. -bies) 1. a stupid or childish person. 2. a large tropical seabird (genus Sula) of the gannet family, with brown, black, or white plumage and often brightly colored feet. boo·by2 • n. (pl. -bies) (usu. boobies) inf. a woman's breast. |
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"booby." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "booby." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-booby.html "booby." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-booby.html |
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booby
booby silly fellow; gannet. XVII. prob. (with -Y6) — Sp. bobo (used in both senses) :- L. balbus stammering, stuttering (ult. imit).
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T. F. HOAD. "booby." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "booby." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-booby.html T. F. HOAD. "booby." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-booby.html |
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booby
booby See gannet
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"booby." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "booby." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-booby.html "booby." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-booby.html |
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booby
booby
•abbey, cabby, crabby, flabby, gabby, grabby, Rabbie, scabby, shabby, tabby, yabby
•namby-pamby
•Abu Dhabi, Babi, Darby, derby, kohlrabi, Mugabe, Punjabi, Wahhabi
•Entebbe, plebby
•cobwebby
•Achebe, baby, maybe
•Naseby • crybaby • bushbaby
•freebie, Hebe, phoebe
•Libby • Digby
•astilbe, Philby, trilby
•Dimbleby • nimby • Whitby
•frisbee, Thisbe
•Grimsby • renminbi • honeybee
•oribi
•Bobbie, bobby, Gobbi, hobby, knobby, lobby, snobby, swabbie
•Dolby • zombie • Crosby
•corbie, warby
•Albee • Formby • Port Moresby
•adobe, dhobi, dobe, Nairobi, obi, Robey
•Toynbee
•booby, jube, newbie, Newby, ruby
•would-be
•chubby, clubby, cubby, grubby, hubby, nubby, scrubby, shrubby, stubby, tubby
•rugby • bumblebee • brumby • busby
•Niobe • Jacobi • Lockerbie • Allenby
•Willoughby • wallaby • wannabe
•Araby • tsessebi • herby
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"booby." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "booby." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-booby.html "booby." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-booby.html |
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