sheldrake

American  

[shel-dreyk] / ˈʃɛlˌdreɪk /

noun

sheldrakes, plural sheldrake plural

1. any of several Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna, certain species of which have highly variegated plumage.

2. any of various other ducks, especially the goosander or merganser.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• sheldrake
  plural
• sheldrakes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of sheldrake

1275–1325; Middle English sheldedrake, equivalent to sheld particolored + drake drake ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sheldrake sheldrakes

The sheldrake does not heed his mate Who calls behind the lotus-leaf; He drops the lily from his bill And turns on you a glance of grief.

From Translations of Shakuntala and Other Works by Kalidasa

And the sheldrake eats a dozen fish to his one.

From Secret of the Woods by Long, William Joseph

It is possible that Drake may sometimes represent Anglo-Sax. draca, dragon, rather than the bird, but the latter is unmistakable in Sheldrick, for sheldrake.

From The Romance of Names by Weekley, Ernest

Or that I can dive down at one side of a Highland loch and come up at the other like a sheldrake?

From Red Cap Tales Stolen from the Treasure Chest of the Wizard of the North by Scott, Walter, Sir

There were several species of land birds; and the aquatic fowl were ducks, teal, and the sheldrake.

From A Voyage to Terra Australis — Volume 1 by Flinders, Matthew

The mergansers have narrow, hooked, saw-toothed beaks quite unlike those of the sheldrakes, and their habits are entirely dissimilar.

From Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China by Andrews, Roy Chapman

There are no cranes or sheldrakes and, except for a few flocks of mallards which feed in the rice fields, we saw no other ducks or geese.

From Camps and Trails in China A Narrative of Exploration, Adventure, and Sport in Little-Known China by Andrews, Roy Chapman

There are such a multitude of swans, geese, brants, sheldrakes, ducks of several sorts, mallard, teal, blewings, and many other kinds of water fowl, that the plenty of them is incredible.

From The History of Virginia, in Four Parts by Beverley, Robert

Over at the fresh-water loch of Harray, too, several teals and sheldrakes were taken.

From The Pilots of Pomona by Leighton, Robert

Whereupon Koskomenos swept away to his watchtower above the minnow pool, and the hawk set his wings toward the outlet, where a brood of young sheldrakes were taking their first lessons in the open water.

From Secret of the Woods by Long, William Joseph