mallard

[ mal-erd ]

/ ˈmæl ərd /

Save This Word!

noun, plural mal·lards, (especially collectively) mal·lard.

a common, almost cosmopolitan, wild duck, Anas platyrhynchos, from which the domestic ducks are descended.

COMPARE MEANINGS

Click for a side-by-side comparison of meanings. Use the word comparison feature to learn the differences between similar and commonly confused words.

QUIZ

GOOSES. GEESES. I WANT THIS QUIZ ON PLURAL NOUNS!

Test how much you really know about regular and irregular plural nouns with this quiz.

Question 1 of 9

Which of the following nouns has an irregular plural form?

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of mallard

1275–1325; Middle English <Middle French, Old French mallart mallard drake, drake; see male, -ard

Words nearby mallard

malison, malkin, mall, mallam, mallanders, mallard, Mallarmé, mallcore, Malle, malleability, malleable

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use mallard in a sentence

It launches with an amusing ruse: Bond makes his entrance swimming underwater, disguised by a mallard he wears as a hat.
Best James Bond Opening Sequences: ‘Goldeneye’ & More (VIDEO)|Kevin Fallon|October 4, 2012|DAILY BEAST
His reverie was interrupted by the arrival of a fine mallard, which was bagged without delay.
Gold-Seeking on the Dalton Trail|Arthur R. Thompson
The Fern Fly—dubbed with the fur from a hare's neck, which is of a fern colour, wings dark grey feather of mallard.
The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland
The Camel Brown—dubbed with old brownish hair, with red silk, wings dark grey feather from mallard.
The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland

The Dark Brown—dubbed with the brown hair of a cow, and the grey feather of a Mallard for wings.
The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland
The Great Whirling Dun—dubbed with squirrels fur, for wings, grey feather of mallard.
The Teesdale Angler|R Lakeland

British Dictionary definitions for mallard

mallard

/ (ˈmælɑːd) /

noun plural -lard or -lards

a duck, Anas platyrhynchos, common over most of the N hemisphere, the male of which has a dark green head and reddish-brown breast: the ancestor of all domestic breeds of duck

Word Origin for mallard

C14: from Old French mallart, perhaps from maslart (unattested); see male, -ard

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