penguin

noun

1. Any of several flightless sea birds, of the family Spheniscidae within the order Sphenisciformes, found in the Southern Hemisphere, marked by their usual upright stance, walking on short legs, and (generally) their stark black and white plumage.

   “Here are also birds cal'd Pen-gwins (white-head in Welch) like Pigmies walking upright, their finns or wings hanging very orderly downe like sleeves […]”

2. (historical, obsolete)An auk (sometimes especially a great auk), a bird of the Northern Hemisphere.

   “This last species of penguin, or auk, seems to be the same with the alca cirrhata of Dr. Pallis, Spicileg. Zool. Fasc. v. p. 7. tab. i. & v. fig. 1–3. F.”

   “More than a hundred years ago, for example, was seen the last of the great wingless penguins or auks, which early writers quaintly called " wobble-birds."”

3. (slang)A nun.

   “Jake (John Belushi): What are we doing here? Elwood (Dan Aykroyd): You promised you'd visit the penguin the day you got out. Jake: Yeah. So, I lied to her. Elwood:You can't lie to a nun. We gotta go in and visit the penguin.”

4. A type of catch where the palm of the hand is facing towards the leg with the arm stretched downward, resembling the flipper of a penguin.
5. A spiny bromeliad with egg-shaped fleshy fruit, Bromelia pinguin.

   “These productive patches, and the houses, were each surrounded by a fence, made of a prickly shrub, called the Pinguin, which propagates itself with great rapidity.”

6. (UK, slang)A member of the air force who does not fly aircraft.

   “Although it is a permanent R.A.F. station (pre-war, that is), we meander about, even in the Mess, in battle dress and flying boots, sweaters, etc., much to the disgust of some of the more dignified 'penguins' […]”

   “Notwithstanding his elevated status as the wing’s Senior Intelligence Officer, Monty, too, was a “penguin,” equal in that respect to an armament assistant, airframe mechanic, pigeon loftsman or any of the seventy-odd ground trades listed by the Royal Canadian Air Force at the war’s end.”

   “She may have been a “penguin”—an Air Force service member who didn't fly—but it sure beat being at home, as Brady had pointed out.”

   “This was to be my home for three months where ground officer cadets, referred to colloquially as ‘penguins’ were trained.”

name

1. A town in Central Coast Council, northern Tasmania, Australia.