canard

American  

[kuh-nahrd, ka-nar] / kəˈnɑrd, kaˈnar /

noun

plural

canards

1. a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.

2. Cooking. a duck intended or used for food.

3. Aeronautics.

   1. an airplane that has its horizontal stabilizer and elevators located forward of the wing.

   2. Also called canard wing.  one of two small lifting wings located in front of the main wings.

   3. an early airplane having a pusher engine with the rudder and elevator assembly in front of the wings.

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canard British  

/ kæˈnɑːd, kanar /

noun

1. a false report; rumour or hoax

2. an aircraft in which the tailplane is mounted in front of the wing

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Etymology

Origin of canard

First recorded in 1840–45; from French: literally, “duck,” from Old French quanart “drake,” originally “cackler,” equivalent to can(er) “to cackle” (of expressive origin) + -art -art, as in mallart “drake”; mallard

Example Sentences

Bill Gates jumps off a bandwagon that existed in the first place only as a complete and utter canard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025

This year, let’s agree to dispel the canard that “summer reading” or “beach books” are something frivolous or less important than the serious literature celebrated in austere outlets like the London Review of Books.

From Seattle Times • May 14, 2024

This is another quacking canard from the Simpson duck pond.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 24, 2023

That movement swept the United States and Britain in the 1980s and early '90s on account of a cultural myth and canard that child-sacrificing Satanic cults were at work.

From Salon • Aug. 13, 2023

But Punch ignored the attack; and the report of the death of his lady-correspondent was duly recognised as a canard.

From The History of "Punch" by Spielmann, M. H. (Marion Harry)

Related Words

• hoax