Mother Carey's chicken

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Spaniard was hardly a mile to windward, a long, low, rakish craft, as black as a Mother Carey’s chicken.

From The Cruise of the Snowbird A Story of Arctic Adventure by Stables, Gordon

We had him, now on our weather bow, and now crossing our course, and, once in a while, in our wake, as if he had been a Mother Carey's chicken looking for our crumbs.

From The Water-Witch or, the Skimmer of the Seas by Cooper, James Fenimore

I am never tired of the calms, and I enjoy a stiff gale like a Mother Carey’s chicken, so long as I can be on deck or in the captain’s cabin. 

From Letters from the Cape by Duff Gordon, Lucie, Lady

You don’t want me to take in sail surely with this wind, you old Mother Carey’s chicken?

From Picked up at Sea The Gold Miners of Minturne Creek by Hutcheson, John C. (John Conroy)

"Ay, and ye see Mother Carey's chicken yonder," said Danny, pointing where the stormy petrel was scudding close to a white wave and uttering a dismal cry.

From She's All the World to Me by Caine, Hall, Sir