loon

plural loons

1. slangA crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.

   What's it like to be a loon? / I liken it to a balloon

   1971, Marc Bolan, “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex

   1 more example

   An electric fire came next, followed by an umbrella and then a colander. "This bowl will carry no water," he muttered. "Some loon hath pierced it with holes."

   1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 67

   Synonyms: lunatic, psycho, wacko

2. obsoleteAn idler, a lout.

   The diuell damne thee blacke, thou cream-fac'd Loone: Where got'ſt thou that Gooſe-looke.

   c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 149

3. ScotlandUlsterA boy, a lad.
4. ScotlandA harlot; mistress.
5. ScotlandA simpleton.
6. IrelandhistoricalAn English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.
7. engineeringA round area of pavement that protrudes from one side of a road to accommodate turning vehicles with a wide turning circle.

   Synonyms: bulb-out

8. abbreviationclippingClipping of balloon.

plural loons

1. CanadaUSAny of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.

   [O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]

   1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286

   4 more examples

   The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.

   1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 31

   He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’

   1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC

   And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.

   1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April

   Every so often there was a new animal in the park. We all remembered, for example, when the first loon arrived. The ducks were so happy to have a bird nuttier than themselves.

   2023, Dave Eggers, illustrated by Shawn Harris, The Eyes and the Impossible, pages 136-137

   Synonyms: diver

1. A municipality of Bohol, Philippines.