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eider

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.04 sec.

Eider, river, Germany

Eider (ī`dər), river, 117 mi (188 km) long, rising S of Kiel, N Germany, and flowing N to the Kiel Canal before turning west and meandering to the North Sea at Tönning. It is navigable for most of its length. The Eider's lower course is regulated by locks; part of its upper course is followed by the Kiel Canal. The river separates Schleswig from Holstein.

eider, in zoology

eider: see duck duck, common name for wild and domestic waterfowl of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and swans. It is hunted and bred for its meat, eggs, and feathers. Strictly speaking, duck refers to the female and drake to the male.
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eider

Any of several species of large diving ducks (in tribes Mergini and Somateriini) that are heavy and round-bodied, with a humped bill that produces a characteristic sloping profile. Eiders are the source of eiderdown, feathers that the hen plucks from her breast to line the nest and insulate her eggs. Eiderdown is used as a warm filling for jackets, pillows, quilts, and sleeping bags. Hens are mottled brown, but drakes (males) are boldly patterned, with a green pigment on the head. Eiders live in the cold far north.
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Its vivid yellows fairly screamed aloud; its whites were as eider down; its blacks glossy as the finest anthracite coal, and its coat long and shaggy as a mountain goat.
At the Earth's Core by Burroughs, Edgar Rice View in context
The landlord was near spraining his wrist, and I told him for heaven's sake to quit -- the bed was soft enough to suit me, and I did not know how all the planing in the world could make eider down of a pine plank.
Moby Dick I-LXVII by Melville, Herman View in context
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