sheldrake
Americannoun
plural
sheldrakes,plural
sheldrake-
any of several Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna, certain species of which have highly variegated plumage.
-
any of various other ducks, especially the goosander or merganser.
Etymology
Origin of sheldrake
1275–1325; Middle English sheldedrake, equivalent to sheld particolored + drake drake 1
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.
The most common birds up these tidal rivers are the sheldrake.
From Project Gutenberg
Just above, at the foot of the trout pool, a brood of sheldrake were croaking and splashing about in the shallows.
From Project Gutenberg
The tame bird is no bigger than a domestic duck; the wild sheldrake, flying about in the strong sunshine, looks almost as large as a goose.
From Project Gutenberg
Quite the handsomest of the wildfowl on the marsh were a colony of sheldrakes which occupied a number of disused rabbit-burrows on a raised plateau overlooking the bay.
From Project Gutenberg
Paddling along the eastern side of the lake in the still of the morning, we soon saw a few sheldrakes, which the Indian called Shecorways, and some peetweets on the rocky shore.
From Project Gutenberg
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.
