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Seagull vs Tern - What's the difference?

seagull | tern |

As nouns the difference between seagull and tern

is that seagull is any of several white, often dark backed birds of the family Laridae having long pointed wings and short legs while tern is any of various sea birds of the family Sternidae that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail.

As a verb seagull

is to run in the back line rather than concentrate on primary positional duties in open play.

As an adjective tern is

threefold; triple; consisting of three; ternate.

seagull

English

(wikipedia seagull)

Alternative forms

* sea gull * sea-gull

Noun

(en noun)
  • Any of several white, often dark backed birds of the family Laridae having long pointed wings and short legs.
  • (orthography) The symbol , which combines under a letter as a sort of accent.
  • (UK, slang) A fan or member of .

    • Synonyms

    * (bird) gull

    Derived terms

    * seagulling

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To run in the back line rather than concentrate on primary positional duties in open play.
  • * '>citation
  • * 2002 , " Sharks beached at Stradey", BBC Sport , 13 December 2002:
    • On hand was seagulling number eight Dave Hodges to cross for the all-important try.
  • * 2003 , Greg Growden, " Australia survives scare", The Age , 2 November 2003:
    • That occurred in the 12th minute when flanker George Smith, seagulling out wide, enjoyed the rewards of a two-man overlap to score.
  • * 2003 , Mark Fuller, " Impeccable France outclasses Ireland", The Age , 10 November 2003:
    • France was full of running and continued to spread the ball wide or kick in behind the defence, where towering right-winger Aurelien Rougerie and the seagulling French back row had a height advantage contesting the high ball.
  • * 2011 , Darren Walton, " Injuries sour Wallabies 67-5 win over USA", MSN NZ , 24 September 2011:
    • Samo seagulled for Australia's final try two minutes from time.
  • To use a outboard.
  • * '>citation
  • (New Zealand) To work as a non-union casual stevedore.
  • * 1964 , O. E. Middleton, A Walk on the Beach , M. Joseph (1964), page 215:
    • Bill had been seagulling on the wharf since he got back from the war.
  • * 1981 , Parliamentary Debates , Volume 437, page 374:
    • At that time many of them seagulled on the Mt Maunganui wharf to make a crust in order to carry on with their ideal of kiwifruit as a major exporting industry.
  • * 1993 , Beryl Fletcher, The Iron Mouth , Spinifex Press (1993), ISBN 9781875559220, page 60:
    • The only stories he told of his life were of how hard he had worked, seagulling on the wharf, standing in blood and guts at the Works, loading trucks with sacks of fertiliser and grain at the Farmers' Co-op.

    Anagrams

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    tern

    English

    Etymology 1

    From a Scandinavian language, related to Danish terne'', Swedish '' , ultimately from (etyl)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Any of various sea birds of the family Sternidae that are similar to gulls but are smaller and have a forked tail.
    • Derived terms
    * arctic tern * black tern * common tern * crested tern * greater crested tern * hooded tern * lesser crested tern * marsh tern * river tern * roseate tern * sooty tern * swift tern
    See also
    * sea swallow * (wikipedia) * (Sternidae) * (Sternidae)

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) terne. See (tern) (adjective).

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That which consists of, or pertains to, three things or numbers together.
  • (dated) A lottery prize resulting from the favourable combination of three numbers in the draw.
  • * Mrs Browning
    • She'd win a tern in Thursday's lottery.

    Adjective

    (-)
  • threefold; triple; consisting of three; ternate
    • tern''' flowers; '''tern leaves
    a tern schooner, one with three masts

    Anagrams

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