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ducks and drakes

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noun
  1. Also duck and drake. a pastime in which flat stones or shells are thrown across water so as to skip over the surface several times before sinking.
Idioms
  1. play ducks and drakes with, to handle recklessly; squander: He played ducks and drakes with his fortune.Also make ducks and drakes of.

Origin of ducks and drakes

First recorded in 1575–85; from a fancied likeness to a waterfowl's movements
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for ducks and drakes

Historical Examples

  • Master Faustus, I know you for a man who plays away his money at ducks-and-drakes, and who has a loose tongue.

    Faustus

    Friedrich Maximilian von Klinger

British Dictionary definitions for ducks and drakes

ducks and drakes

noun (functioning as singular)
  1. a game in which a flat stone is bounced across the surface of water
  2. make ducks and drakes of, play ducks and drakes with or play at ducks and drakes with to use recklessly; squander or waste
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012