duckling
Americannoun
-
ducklings
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of duckling
First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; see origin at duck 1, -ling 1
Explanation
A duckling is a baby duck. Ducklings usually learn to swim by following their mother to a body of water. Ducklings, like all birds, hatch from eggs that are typically laid in a nest. Soon after all the ducklings hatch, the mother duck leads them to water, where most kinds of ducks spend the greater parts of their lives. One of literature's most famous ducklings is the one in Hans Christian Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling" — although that duckling, in the end, turned out to be a swan.
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.
See Examples For:
Mary, on the other hand, is a clumsy bird who, in Hadlow’s telling, becomes a perfectly capable duckling swimming fiercely amid a bevy of swans.
From Salon ● May 20, 2026
Edith saw herself as the ugly duckling but excelled in ballet.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 14, 2026
Clips of a duckling swimming in a bath or two happy pooches patrolling their neighbourhood are examples of the curated programming on "PetTV".
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
After arriving, the band chatted to guests at the bar before eating a dinner of trout, turtle soup, cold duckling and steak tartare - a "rather rich selection", said Gail - in an upstairs room.
From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2023
He framed the last little duckling in the viewfinder and clicked.
From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai
Six of the seven eggs hatched, and five ducklings survived.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
A mother mallard with her six little ducklings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Bertsch, of Irvine, gathered some ducklings from a community pool near Morena and Segura and put them in a box, according to an Irvine Police Department news release.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
The rescuers managed to get the rest of the ducklings out and reunited with their mother.
From Seattle Times ● May 8, 2024
Then he discovered that if he hatched mallard duck eggs, the ducklings refused to follow him.
From "My Life with the Chimpanzees" by Jane Goodall
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