Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—P

Petrel

The stormy petrel. So named, according to tradition, from the Italian Petrello (little Peter), in allusion to St. Peter, who walked on the sea. Our sailors call them “Mother Carey's chickens.” They are called stormy because in a gale they surround a ship to catch small animals which rise to the surface of the rough sea; when the gale ceases they are no longer seen.

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Petrified
Petrarch
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More on Petrel from Fact Monster:

  • petrel - petrel petrel , common name given various oceanic birds belonging, like the albatross and the ...
  • storm petrel - storm petrel: storm petrel: see petrel.
  • fulmar - fulmar fulmar : see shearwater; petrel.
  • Mother Carey's chicken - Mother Carey's chicken: Mother Carey's chicken: see petrel.
  • Bradley Allen Fiske - Fiske, Bradley Allen Fiske, Bradley Allen , 1854–1942, American naval officer and inventor, ...

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