sheldrake
Americannoun
-
sheldrakes,
plural
-
sheldrake
plural
-
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.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
See Examples For:
He will find there in proper season the canvas-back, mallard, teal, white-winged coot, sheldrake, etc.
From Nooks and Corners of the New England Coast by Samuel Adams Drake
In the case of the sheldrake, the exaggerated size may be an effect of strong sunlight on a flying white object.
From Birds and Man by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson
In America the name "sheldrake" is applied erroneously to the fish-eating mergansers, and much confusion has thus arisen, for the two are quite unrelated and belong to perfectly distinct groups.
From Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China by Roy Chapman Andrews
But as she fell into the water she became a sheldrake duck.
From Algonquin Legends of New England by Charles Godfrey Leland
A northern term for the sheldrake, Tadorna vulpanser.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Sir Edward Belcher
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 The Confessions of a Poacher by Anonymous
Even herons, so abundant in the north, were conspicuous by their absence and we saw no sheldrakes, geese, or mallards.
From Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China by Roy Chapman Andrews
We saw a few wood-ducks, sheldrakes, and black ducks, but they were not so numerous there at that season as on our river at home.
From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 10, August, 1858 by Various
The male sheldrakes meanwhile are far away, fishing on their own waters.
From Secret of the Woods by William Joseph Long
Some sheldrakes and wallabies were seen, and a bustard was shot by Charley: large fish were splashing in the water.
From Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia : from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845 by Ludwig Leichhardt
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
