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Carey
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Spelling variants:Carey('s) chick
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a petrel. See Mother Carey's chicken 1829 quote.
Quotations
1953
They went batting Carey's Chicks and said that they were puffins.
1956
White-rumped petrel [is also called] Carey (N.S.); Carey chick (Nfld, Que.); Mother Carey's chick (Nfld); Mother Carey's chicken (Nfld, N.S., N.B.) Middle term spelled also "Carew's" and "Cary's." . . . one [explanation] having dictionary sanction (NID) is that the term is an Anglicization of the Latin Mater Cara (esteemed Mother) applied to the Virgin Mary, patroness of sailors. As these birds are regarded as portents of trouble, however, the explanation does not seem too clear.