Word
drake
US/ˈdɹeɪk/
UK/dɹˈeɪk/
Definitions
01male duck
n. a male duck.
n. the adult male of any species of duck.
“The drake has much brighter feathers than the female duck.”
“A lone drake paddled across the pond, its iridescent green head shimmering in the afternoon light.”
Synonyms
Antonyms
02dragon
n. a dragon, especially in old stories or poems.
n. a dragon or legendary serpent-like creature.
“The old poem tells of a fire-breathing drake guarding a pile of gold.”
“The knight descended into the cavern to confront the sleeping drake, whose scales were said to be harder than tempered steel.”
Literary · Archaic
03Viking ship
n. a type of Viking warship with a dragon's head on the front.
n. a Viking longship or galley, often decorated with a dragon-headed prow.
“The Viking drake sailed into the harbour with its red sails high.”
“Historical accounts describe the terror inspired by the sight of a Norse drake appearing on the horizon during the raiding season.”
Archaic
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“T he first serious effort to detect radio signals from alien civilisations in deep space was made in 1960, when the American astronomer Frank Drake conducted an experiment he named Project Ozma.” Etymology
* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon." * As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Idioms
ducks and drakes — The squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions such as "to make ducks and drakes of", "to play (at) ducks and drakes with".
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/drake