albatross
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English 5++LDOCE 5++al·ba·tross /ˈælbətrɒs $ -trɒːs, -trɑːs/ noun 1. HBP[countable] a very large white sea bird 信天翁〔一种白色的大海鸟〕2 an albatross (around your neck) PROBLEMsomething that causes problems for you and prevents you from succeeding 枷锁，包袱 The issue has become a political albatross for the government. 那件事成了政府的政治包袱。
Examples from the Corpus
albatross• Their wingspan exceeds that of an albatross.• You share it with dolphins and whales and albatrosses and the lonely satellite orbiting overhead.• Her youth was a rock round her neck, her albatross.• Given that male albatrosses have the same genetic incentives as male elephant seals, why do they behave so differently?• We identified two different types of albatross, four species of petrel, and a tern.• It was too rough to fish, and our only companions were the albatrosses.• The albatrosses, however, remained.• In the year before Gould's arrival a thousand albatrosses were killed on Albatross Island alone.Origin albatross 1. (1600-1700) Probably from alcatras type of water bird ((16-19 centuries)), from Portuguese or Spanish alcatraz “pelican”, from Arabic al-gattas “the diver”; 2. from the dead albatross that brought bad luck to the sailor who killed it in the poem The Ancient Mariner (1798) by S. T. Coleridgeal·ba·tross nounChineseSyllable
bird large a Corpus very white sea
albatross
al‧ba‧tross /ˈælbətrɒs $ -trɒːs, -trɑːs/
noun1. [countable] a very large white sea bird
2. an albatross (around your neck) something that causes problems for you and prevents you from succeeding:
The issue has become a political albatross for the government.
al‧ba‧tross /ˈælbətrɒs $ -trɒːs, -trɑːs/
noun Date: 1600-1700
Origin: Probably from alcatras type of water bird (16-19 centuries), from Portuguese or Spanish alcatraz 'pelican', from Arabic al-gattas 'the diver';
Origin: Probably from alcatras type of water bird (16-19 centuries), from Portuguese or Spanish alcatraz 'pelican', from Arabic al-gattas 'the diver';
Sense 2
Origin: from the dead albatross that brought bad luck to the sailor who killed it in the poem The Ancient Mariner (1798) by S. T. Coleridge2. an albatross (around your neck) something that causes problems for you and prevents you from succeeding:
