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laughing gull
noun
: an American gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) having a black head in breeding plumage and black wing tips blending into the gray upper side of the wings
Examples of laughing gull in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The largest white droppings belonged to the seagulls — black-headed laughing gulls and white-headed herring gulls — McKenzie explained.
—Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 27 Dec. 2024
Migratory birds stop at the island in the spring and fall, and several species breed there, including sooty terns and laughing gulls.
—Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Dec. 2024
At least three birds — two brown pelicans and a laughing gull — were killed by the oil spill, and the Coast Guard spotted at least nine other birds clearly suffering from the spill.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 20 May 2024
The sandpipers had already migrated, and the laughing gulls were long gone.
—Latria Graham, Travel + Leisure, 19 Jan. 2024
Investigators told the station that the injured seagull described as a laughing gull was later euthanized because of a broken wing.
—Garfield Hylton, Orlando Sentinel, 5 May 2022
Two little gulls and a lingering laughing gull in Westport Harbor, a greater yellowlegs in Dartmouth and a flock of 16 red crossbills in the Freetown-Fall River State Forest.
—Isabela Rocha, BostonGlobe.com, 10 Dec. 2022
In Hampshire County, notable sightings at the Oxbow Marina included a black-bellied plover, a ruddy turnstone, a whimbrel, and a laughing gull.
—BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021
Wachusett Reservoir hosted 16 common mergansers, three Bonaparte’s gulls, a laughing gull, and a common tern.
—BostonGlobe.com, 28 Aug. 2021
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Word History
First Known Use
1731, in the meaning defined above
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Cite this Entry
“Laughing gull.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/laughing%20gull. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.
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