penguin
noun
Simple meaning
A black-and-white sea bird that swims well but cannot fly.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
pehnggwuhnSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈpɛŋɡwən
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
Any of several flightless sea birds, of the family Spheniscidae within the order Sphenisciformes, found in the Southern Hemisphere, marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage.
Short-legged flightless birds of cold southern especially Antarctic regions having webbed feet and wings modified as flippers
ukmilitaryslang
A member of the air force who does not fly aircraft.
slang
A nun.
A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, Bromelia pinguin.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.