loon1

[loon] /lun/
noun
1.
any of several large, short-tailed, web-footed, fish-eating diving birds of the genus Gavia, of the Northern Hemisphere.
Origin
1625-35; perhaps alteration of loom3

loon2

[loon] /lun/
noun
1.
a crazy or simple-minded person.
Origin
1400-50; late Middle English lowen, perhaps < Old Norse lūinn worn, tired; later influenced by loon1 and loony
Examples from the web for loon
  • Nearby reside the relics of elk and lynx, coyote and loon, pelican and wolf.
  • There was the stampede to see the migrating loon that chose the park's reservoir for a rest stop.
  • Anything published by this loon has zero credibility.
  • Obviously you are a left wing loon that is the problem not the solution.
  • It would not be out of line for an interviewer to paint me as a loon.
  • He is at first a distant wave, the wake-wedge of a loon as it surfaces.
  • So even though almost no one in the military is a raving nativist loon, many of the raving nativist loons may be in the military.
  • Now it held a small wooden loon, a coffee mug, a stack of payroll checks to sign.
  • From the lake itself a loon, floating high on the water, greeted me with eerie laughter.
  • The point of this post is that not everyone who is a skeptic is a malicious loon.
British Dictionary definitions for loon

loon1

/luːn/
noun
1.
the US and Canadian name for diver (sense 3)
Word Origin
C17: of Scandinavian origin; related to Old Norse lōmr

loon2

/luːn/
noun
1.
(informal) a simple-minded or stupid person
2.
(Northeast Scot, dialect) a lad
3.
(archaic) a person of low rank or occupation (esp in the phrase lord and loon)
Word Origin
C15: origin obscure
Word Origin and History for loon
n.

large diving bird (especially the Great Northern Diver), 1630s, from a Scandinavian source (cf. Norwegian lom, from Old Norse lomr).

"crazy person," mid-15c., lowen "rascal," of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Dutch loen "stupid person."

Slang definitions & phrases for loon

loon

Related Terms

crazy as a loon