See ducks and drakes on Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "1585, due to association with waterfowl. The precise origin is unclear, and may be from ducks taking off from a pond, or making rings when splashing, or bobbing their heads. Early references are primarily to “making” ducks and drakes, suggesting that the circular rings produced by the skipping stone resemble those created by splashing waterfowl.\nSense “to squander, to throw away” shortly thereafter, attested 1614, from sense of “throwing money away, as if throwing stones away in this pastime”.",
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"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
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"examples": [
{
"ref": "1585, The nomenclator, or remembrancer of Adrianus Junius, John Higgins",
"text": "A kind of sport or play with an oister shell or stone throwne into the water, and making circles yer it sinke, etc. It is called a ducke and a drake, and a halfe-penie cake."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A pastime of throwing flat stones across water so as to make them bounce off the surface."
],
"id": "en-ducks_and_drakes-en-noun--WkpH3H3",
"links": [
[
"pastime",
"pastime"
],
[
"flat",
"flat"
],
[
"bounce",
"bounce"
],
[
"surface",
"surface"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "stone skipping"
},
{
"word": "stone skimming"
},
{
"word": "stone skiffing"
},
{
"word": "drakestoning"
}
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎ shuǐpiāo",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "打水漂"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "ketsen"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "kiskassen"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leipien heitto"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Steinehüpfen"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Steineflitschen"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"neuter"
],
"word": "Ditschen"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "kacsázás"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "paratiti"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "ripi"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"neuter"
],
"word": "fiskesprett"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "ru",
"english": "lit: bake pancakes",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pečʹ bliný",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "печь блины́"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"plural"
],
"word": "spitheagan"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "spoth an t-sìl"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "sniog-sneog"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "struidearachd"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leac an rìgh"
},
{
"_dis1": "93 7",
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leacan teithe teinntein"
}
]
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],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "22 78",
"word": "play ducks and drakes with"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 78",
"word": "make ducks and drakes of one's money"
},
{
"_dis1": "22 78",
"english": "a flat stone suitable for skimming across water",
"word": "drakestone"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1614, James Cooke, Tu Quoque:",
"text": "This royal Caesar doth regard no cash; Has thrown away as much in ducks and drakes As would have bought some 50,000 capons.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 59, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:",
"text": "Pendennis’s uncle, the Major, seldom does anything without me; and as he is likely to be extravagant we’ve tied up the property, so that he can’t make ducks and drakes with it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:",
"text": "He soon made ducks and drakes of what I gave him, sank lower and lower, married another woman, I believe, became an adventurer, a gambler, and a cheat.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions such as \"to make ducks and drakes of\", \"to play (at) ducks and drakes with\"."
],
"id": "en-ducks_and_drakes-en-noun-AU1-9ob1",
"links": [
[
"squandering",
"squandering"
],
[
"money",
"money"
],
[
"make",
"make"
],
[
"play",
"play"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) The squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions such as \"to make ducks and drakes of\", \"to play (at) ducks and drakes with\"."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "squandering"
},
{
"word": "wasting"
}
],
"tags": [
"idiomatic",
"informal",
"uncountable"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "10 90",
"code": "bn",
"lang": "Bengali",
"roman": "chinimini khela",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "ছিনিমিনি খেলা"
},
{
"_dis1": "10 90",
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎ shuǐpiāo",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "打水漂"
},
{
"_dis1": "10 90",
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "tuhlaus"
}
]
}
],
"word": "ducks and drakes"
}
{
"categories": [
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"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"English uncountable nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 1 entry",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with Bengali translations",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Finnish translations",
"Terms with German translations",
"Terms with Hungarian translations",
"Terms with Mandarin translations",
"Terms with Maori translations",
"Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations",
"Terms with Russian translations",
"Terms with Scottish Gaelic translations"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "play ducks and drakes with"
},
{
"word": "make ducks and drakes of one's money"
},
{
"english": "a flat stone suitable for skimming across water",
"word": "drakestone"
}
],
"etymology_text": "1585, due to association with waterfowl. The precise origin is unclear, and may be from ducks taking off from a pond, or making rings when splashing, or bobbing their heads. Early references are primarily to “making” ducks and drakes, suggesting that the circular rings produced by the skipping stone resemble those created by splashing waterfowl.\nSense “to squander, to throw away” shortly thereafter, attested 1614, from sense of “throwing money away, as if throwing stones away in this pastime”.",
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],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1585, The nomenclator, or remembrancer of Adrianus Junius, John Higgins",
"text": "A kind of sport or play with an oister shell or stone throwne into the water, and making circles yer it sinke, etc. It is called a ducke and a drake, and a halfe-penie cake."
}
],
"glosses": [
"A pastime of throwing flat stones across water so as to make them bounce off the surface."
],
"links": [
[
"pastime",
"pastime"
],
[
"flat",
"flat"
],
[
"bounce",
"bounce"
],
[
"surface",
"surface"
]
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "stone skipping"
},
{
"word": "stone skimming"
},
{
"word": "stone skiffing"
},
{
"word": "drakestoning"
}
],
"tags": [
"uncountable"
]
},
{
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"English idioms",
"English informal terms",
"English terms with quotations",
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],
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{
"ref": "1614, James Cooke, Tu Quoque:",
"text": "This royal Caesar doth regard no cash; Has thrown away as much in ducks and drakes As would have bought some 50,000 capons.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 59, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:",
"text": "Pendennis’s uncle, the Major, seldom does anything without me; and as he is likely to be extravagant we’ve tied up the property, so that he can’t make ducks and drakes with it.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "1849 May – 1850 November, Charles Dickens, The Personal History of David Copperfield, London: Bradbury & Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC:",
"text": "He soon made ducks and drakes of what I gave him, sank lower and lower, married another woman, I believe, became an adventurer, a gambler, and a cheat.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"The squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions such as \"to make ducks and drakes of\", \"to play (at) ducks and drakes with\"."
],
"links": [
[
"squandering",
"squandering"
],
[
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"money"
],
[
"make",
"make"
],
[
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"play"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(idiomatic, informal) The squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions such as \"to make ducks and drakes of\", \"to play (at) ducks and drakes with\"."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "squandering"
},
{
"word": "wasting"
}
],
"tags": [
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"informal",
"uncountable"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎ shuǐpiāo",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "打水漂"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "ketsen"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "kiskassen"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leipien heitto"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Steinehüpfen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "Steineflitschen"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"neuter"
],
"word": "Ditschen"
},
{
"code": "hu",
"lang": "Hungarian",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "kacsázás"
},
{
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "paratiti"
},
{
"code": "mi",
"lang": "Maori",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "ripi"
},
{
"code": "nb",
"lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"masculine",
"neuter"
],
"word": "fiskesprett"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"english": "lit: bake pancakes",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "pečʹ bliný",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "печь блины́"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"plural"
],
"word": "spitheagan"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "spoth an t-sìl"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "sniog-sneog"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "struidearachd"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leac an rìgh"
},
{
"code": "gd",
"lang": "Scottish Gaelic",
"sense": "pastime",
"word": "leacan teithe teinntein"
},
{
"code": "bn",
"lang": "Bengali",
"roman": "chinimini khela",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "ছিনিমিনি খেলা"
},
{
"code": "cmn",
"lang": "Chinese Mandarin",
"roman": "dǎ shuǐpiāo",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "打水漂"
},
{
"code": "fi",
"lang": "Finnish",
"sense": "squandering",
"word": "tuhlaus"
}
],
"word": "ducks and drakes"
}
Download raw JSONL data for ducks and drakes meaning in All languages combined (5.9kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.