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  • drake
    drake
    noun
    a male duck.
  • Drake
    Drake
    noun
    Sir Francis, c1540–96, English admiral and buccaneer: sailed around the world 1577–80.

drake

1 American  
[dreyk] / dreɪk /

noun

  1. a male duck.

drake 2 American  
[dreyk] / dreɪk /

noun

  1. a small cannon, used especially in the 17th and 18th centuries.

  2. drake fly.

  3. Archaic. a dragon.

Drake 3 American  
[dreyk] / dreɪk /

noun

  1. Sir Francis, c1540–96, English admiral and buccaneer: sailed around the world 1577–80.

  2. Joseph Rodman 1795–1820, U.S. poet.

drake 1 British  
/ dreɪk /

noun

  1. angling an artificial fly resembling a mayfly

  2. history a small cannon

  3. an obsolete word for dragon

"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
Drake 2 British  
/ dreɪk /

noun

  1. Sir Francis. ?1540–96, English navigator and buccaneer, the first Englishman to sail around the world (1577–80). He commanded a fleet against the Spanish Armada (1588) and contributed greatly to its defeat

"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
drake 3 British  
/ dreɪk /

noun

  1. the male of any duck

"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

Etymology

Origin of drake1

1250–1300; Middle English; cognate with Low German drake, dialectal German drache; compare Old High German antrahho, anutrehho male duck

Origin of drake2

before 900; Middle English; Old English draca < Latin dracō dragon

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.

When she did, she was maliciously disbelieved and ridiculed by the likes of Drake and 50 Cent.

From Salon • Apr. 30, 2026

Millions of streams later, Drake sent a DM, punctuated with exploding-head emojis, inviting Wolf to record the opening verse of his recent single, Dog House.

From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026

But Drake tries to get in early if he can—right after major indexes suffer a steep drop.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 22, 2026

Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management said on Tuesday that it had made an offer for UMG, the label behind artists including Taylor Swift and Drake.

From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026

His thoughts kept straying away to Admiral Drake.

From "Mr. Popper's Penguins" by Florence Atwater and Richard Atwater

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.