quack2
- a fraudulent or ignorant pretender to medical skill.
- a person who pretends, professionally or publicly, to skill, knowledge, or qualifications he or she does not possess; a charlatan.
- being a quack: a quack psychologist who complicates everyone's problems.
- presented falsely as having curative powers: quack medicine.
- of, relating to, or befitting a quack or quackery: quack methods.
- to treat in the manner of a quack.
- to advertise or sell with fraudulent claims.
Origin of quack2
Synonyms
See more synonyms for quack on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for quacker
Historical Examples
And all the time she didn't pay the least attention to Quacker the Duck.
Old Granny FoxThornton W. Burgess
Now it just happened that at that very minute Quacker chanced to look that way.
Old Granny FoxThornton W. Burgess
Quacker drummed his prettiest—“Quack-quack, quack-quack, quack-quack!”
The Russian Grandmother's Wonder TalesLouise Seymour Houghton
As he crept along, Reddy wondered if it could be that for once Quacker had come ashore.
Old Granny FoxThornton W. Burgess
Why, she walked right out on the little beach just below Reddy and in plain sight of Quacker!
Old Granny FoxThornton W. Burgess
quack1
- (of a duck) to utter a harsh guttural sound
- to make a noise like a duck
- the harsh guttural sound made by a duck
Word Origin
quack2
- an unqualified person who claims medical knowledge or other skills
- (as modifier)a quack doctor
- British, Australian and NZ informal a doctor; physician or surgeon
- (intr) to act in the manner of a quack
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for quacker
n.
"a duck," 1846, agent noun from quack (v.).
quack
v.
"to make a duck sound," 1610s, earlier quake (1520s), variant of quelke (early 14c.), of echoic origin (cf. Middle Dutch quacken, Old Church Slavonic kvakati, Latin coaxare "to croak," Greek koax "the croaking of frogs," Hittite akuwakuwash "frog"). Middle English on the quakke (14c.) meant "hoarse, croaking." Related: Quacked; quacking.
quack
n.1
"medical charlatan," 1630s, short for quacksalver (1570s), from obsolete Dutch quacksalver (modern kwakzalver), literally "hawker of salve," from Middle Dutch quacken "to brag, boast," literally "to croak" (see quack (v.)) + salf "salve," salven "to rub with ointment" (see salve (v.)). As an adjective from 1650s. The oldest attested form of the word in this sense in English is as a verb, "to play the quack" (1620s). The Dutch word also is the source of German Quacksalber, Danish kvaksalver, Swedish kvacksalvare.
quack
n.2
duck sound, 1839, from quack (v.).
quack
(kwăk)- An untrained person who pretends to be a physician and dispenses medical advice and treatment.
- A charlatan.