shelduck

[ shel-duhk ]

noun,plural shel·ducks, (especially collectively) shel·duck.

a sheldrake.
a female sheldrake.

Origin of shelduck

First recorded in 1700–10; shel(drake) + duck¹

Words Nearby shelduck

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use shelduck in a sentence

My coat looked rather bulgy, for a shelduck is nearly as big as a Goose.
The Journal of a Disappointed Man | Wilhelm Nero Pilate Barbellion
Ruddy shelduck do not frequent the marisma, preferring the sweeter waters and shallows adjoining Doana.
Unexplored Spain | Abel Chapman

British Dictionary definitions for shelduck

shelduck

masculine sheldrake (ˈʃɛlˌdreɪk)

/ (ˈʃɛlˌdʌk) /

nounplural -ducks, -duck, -drakes or -drake

any of various large usually brightly coloured gooselike ducks, such as Tadorna tadorna (common shelduck), of the Old World

Origin of shelduck

C14 shel, probably from dialect sheld pied; related to Middle Dutch schillede variegated

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

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