sheldrake

American  

[shel-dreyk] / ˈʃɛlˌdreɪk /

noun

sheldrakes plural

1. any of several Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna, certain species of which have highly variegated plumage.

2. any of various other ducks, especially the goosander or merganser.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• sheldrake
  plural
• sheldrakes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sheldrake

1275–1325; Middle English sheldedrake, equivalent to sheld particolored + drake drake ¹

Example Sentences

But during the summer months nothing remained except the geese and sheldrake and the goosander, which is resident in Tibet and the Himalayas.

From The Unveiling of Lhasa by Candler, Edmund

But as she fell into the water she became a sheldrake duck.”

From The Science of Fairy Tales An Inquiry into Fairy Mythology by Hartland, Edwin Sidney

And the sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one.

From Secret of the Woods by Long, William Joseph

A northern term for the sheldrake, Tadorna vulpanser.

From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir

But as she fell into the water she became a sheldrake duck.

From Algonquin Legends of New England by Leland, Charles Godfrey