Definition of "petrel" [pe•trel]

• Any of numerous black, gray, or white sea birds of the order Procellariiformes, especially the storm petrel. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• ""He also observed young juveniles in flight, which indicated the birds were breeding nearby, and recovered a dead Beck's petrel from the sea - now only the third museum-held specimen." ..."
• ""The Beck's petrel is a sea bird that may be nocturnal and is thought to breed in the Bismarck Archipelago, in an area of circular, mountainous islands.""
• "You must make your escape quietly when the moon has set, and fly like a poor petrel from the foot of some sombre reef."