goosander

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the common merganser, Mergus merganser, a large fish-eating diving duck of northern rivers and lakes

   A male goosander with a dark green head swam upstream beside two females.

An alteration of older gossander, reshaped under the influence of goose and gander. The name has long been used in Britain for the common merganser, although the bird is a diving duck rather than a goose.

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