/pe"treuhl/ , n.
any of numerous tube-nosed seabirds of the families Procellariidae, Hydrobatidae, and Pelecanoididae. Cf. storm petrel, diving petrel .
[ 1670-80; earlier pitteral, of uncert. orig.; perh. altered by assoc. with St. Peter (who attempted to walk on the water of Lake Gennesareth), alluding to the bird's habit of flying close to the ocean surface ]