shelduck

American  

[shel-duhk] / ˈʃɛlˌdʌk /

noun

shelducks, plural shelduck plural

1. a sheldrake.

2. a female sheldrake.

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shelduck British  

/ ˈʃɛlˌdreɪk, ˈʃɛlˌdʌk /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• shelduck
  plural
• shelducks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of shelduck

First recorded in 1700–10; shel(drake) + duck ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

shelduck shelducks

These included black-headed gulls, Mediterranean gulls, shelduck and mute swans.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2023

A paradise shelduck was patrolling the midwicket/cover region, obviously oblivious to the Test match going off out there, and unaware that within hours he would become a international superstar.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2013

A rid off in the dark shallows, a flock of shelduck guffaw at one another like wee-hour carousers wending their way home.

From Time Magazine Archive

Here we found a colony of white-rumped swifts nesting high up in cliffs and ruddy shelducks nesting in holes among the loose boulders below.

From Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 by Howard-Bury, Charles Kenneth

In the shallow pool outside the Dzong were swimming bar-headed geese and ruddy shelducks, with families of young birds, all as tame as domestic poultry.

From Mount Everest the Reconnaissance, 1921 by Howard-Bury, Charles Kenneth