Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A large falcon of arctic Europe, Falco gyrfalco, or one of other kinds of boreal falcons forming the subgenus Hierofalco, of large size, very robust organization, and highly raptorial nature.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Zoöl.) See
gyrfalcon .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun Alternative form of
gyrfalcon .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun large and rare Arctic falcon having white and dark color phases
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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[Footnote 4: A gerfalcon is a large falcon of Northern Europe.] "Oft to his frozen lair
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 5 Charles Herbert Sylvester
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And if so be that he be a wedded man, that his wife shall have the degree, and a coronal of gold beset with stones of virtue to the value of a thousand pound, and a white gerfalcon.
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And who that putteth that knight to the worse shall have a fair maid and a gerfalcon.
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Uwaine smote down thirty knights, therefore was given him the prize, and that was a gerfalcon, and a white steed trapped with cloth of gold.
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I am told he governs like a gerfalcon, of which I am very glad, and my lord the duke, of course, also; and I am very thankful to heaven that I have not made a mistake in choosing him for that same government; for I would have Senora Teresa know that a good governor is hard to find in this world and may God make me as good as Sancho's way of governing.
Don Quixote 2002
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He had taken with him for his amusement a favorite gerfalcon of the queen.
The Alhambra 2002
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He had taken with him for his amusement a favorite gerfalcon of the queen.
The Alhambra 2002
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And these same youthful lords had but that hour returned from the chase so that they stood yet in the courtyard, each bearing upon his wrist his gerfalcon, hooded and jessed.
Huon of the Horn Norton, Andre 1951
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So would it be if the falcon were to flee from the duck, and the gerfalcon from the heron, and the great pike from the minnow, and if the stag were to chase the lion; so do things go topsy-turvy.
Cligés. English de Troyes Chr��tien
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He always had a hand as true as steel, and an eye like a gerfalcon.
knitandpurl commented on the word gerfalcon
"Part of The Secret History tells of the campaign of Genghis's son Jochi in 1207 against the People of the Forest. The campaign succeeded, and the People of the Forest submitted to Jochi, bringing him "white gerfalcons, white geldings, and black sables.""
Travels in Siberia by Ian Frazier, pp 27-28
February 6, 2011