shelduck

[ shel-duhk ]

noun,plural shel·ducks, (especially collectively) shel·duck.
  1. a female sheldrake.

Origin of shelduck

1
First recorded in 1700–10; shel(drake) + duck1

Words Nearby shelduck

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

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

Origin of shelduck

1
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