Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Ducks And Drakes |
Ducks And DrakesNoun1. A game in which a flat stone is bounced along the surface of calm water. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Ducks and Drakes The ricocheting or rebounding of a stone thrown from the hand to skim along the surface of a pond or river. To make ducks and drakes of one's money. To throw it away as stones with which "ducks and drakes" are made on water. The allusion is to the sport of throwing stones to skim over water for the sake of seeing them ricocheting or rebounding. "What figured slates are best to make On watery surface duck and drake." Butler: Hudibras, ii. 3. "Mr. Locke Harper found out, a month after his marriage,that somebody had made ducks and drakes of his wife's money." -Dinah M. Craik: Agatha's Husband, chap. xxiii. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Slang in 1811 | DUCKS AND DRAKES. To make ducks and drakes: a school-boy's amusement, practised with pieces of tile, oyster-shells, or flattish stones, which being skimmed along the surface of a pond, or still river, rebound many times. To make ducks and drakes of one's. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Prodigality | Verb: be prodigal; Adjective: squander, lavish, sow broadcast; pour forth like water; blow, blow in; pay through the nose; (dear); spill, waste, dissipate, exhaust, drain, eat out of house and home, overdraw, outrun the constable; run out, run through; misspend; throw good money after bad, throw the helve after the hatchet; burn the candle at both ends; make ducks and drakes of one's money; fool away one's money, potter away one's money, muddle away one's money, fritter away one's money, throw away one's money, run through one's money; pour water into a sieve, kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; manger son ble en herbe. |
Recoil | Ducks and drakes; boomerang; spring, reactionist. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Ducks And Drakes |
| English words defined with "ducks and drakes": Drakestone. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Movie/TV Titles | Ducks and Drakes (1921) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
Expressions using "ducks and drakes": make ducks and drakes of ♦ play ducks and drakes ♦ play ducks and drakes with ♦ To make ducks and drakes ♦ To play at ducks and drakes. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| Language | Translations for "ducks and drakes"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | nyakára hág vminek (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play ducks and drakes of sg), kacsázik (to play at ducks and drakes, to play ducks and drakes, to waddle, to waggle, waddle), könnyelműen elhány vmit (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play ducks and drakes of sg), könnyelműen eldobál vmit (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play ducks and drakes of sg), elherdál vmit (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play away, to play ducks and drakes of sg), békát ugrat (to play at ducks and drakes, to play ducks and drakes), ablakon hajít ki vmit (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play ducks and drakes of sg), ablakon dob ki vmit (to make ducks and drakes of sg, to play ducks and drakes of sg). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 水切り (drainer, forefoot, snipping the stem of a cut flower without raising it out of water). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | みずきり (drainer, forefoot, snipping the stem of a cut flower without raising it out of water). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Manx | jollickey (play ducks and drakes). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ucksday anday akesdray toca banii (make ducks and drakes of, play ducks and drakes). (various references) slösa med (dilapidate, lavish, lay out, play ducks and drakes with), kasta smörgås (play ducks and drakes), handskas vårdslöst (play ducks and drakes with). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-c-d-d-d-e-k-k-n-r-s-s-u" | |
-5 letters: anacruses, assurance, ransacked. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Expressions | 5. Translations: Modern 6. Anagrams 7. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
