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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.

After spending almost a month receiving treatment, including two surgeries and antibiotics, the drake, or male, mallard was cleared this week to leave, according to a Facebook post from the wildlife center.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2023

When the sun hit the water and green drake mayflies began dancing on the surface, a fish lower in the pool began feeding on top.

From Washington Post • Aug. 13, 2022

Thankfully for me drake isn't just a rapper.

From Time • Jul. 23, 2015

As Toronto music critic Rawiya Kameir tweeted, “lmaooooooooo at everyone who said drake has a ‘new accent’ obviously you’ve never met a toronto roadman before.”

From Slate • Feb. 26, 2015

The drake, unrealizing that the dreadful chase was done, sped onward beneath the surface till he could go without breath no longer.

From Hoof and Claw by Roberts, Charles George Douglas, Sir

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.