/pel"i keuhn/ , n.
1. any of several large, totipalmate, fish-eating birds of the family Pelecanidae, having a large bill with a distensible pouch.
2. a still or retort with two tubes that leave the body from the neck, curve in opposite directions, and reenter the body through the belly.
[ bef. 1000; ME pellican, OE pelicanus, var. of PELECAN pelekán ]