duckess

English

Etymology

From duck +‎ -ess.

Noun

duckess (plural duckesses)

1. (rare) A female duck.

   Synonym: duck

   Coordinate term: drake

   • 1920, Lawton Mackall, “Beyond the Paling”, in Scrambled Eggs, Stewart & Kidd Company, page 37:

     But the thrust that got Eustace in the pin feathers was: “I know why you’re such a model drake,—it’s because your wife is the only duckess in the barnyard.” “Not at all!” he replied. “The principles for which I stand are absolute. They would be the same if there were a hundred duckesses besides Gertrude!”

   • 1938 September 17, “From the Editor’s Easy Chair”, in Welford Beaton, editor, Hollywood Spectator, thirteenth year, volume 13, number 17, Los Angeles, Calif., section “Mental Meanderings”, page six, column 2:

     And here come Sophie and her four offsprings which we have been unable thus far to segregate into ducks and duckesses. Manchester, the biggest of the lot, makes a specialty of pecking at my shoelaces.

   • 1953, The Fortnightly Review of the Chicago Dental Society, page 18, column 2:

     Harold does not like to shoot little ducks and duckesses himself, but he got some swell camera shots of some of his friends in action.

   • 2012, Robert L. Payne, A Side Order of Truth, Xlibris, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 481:

     Three duckesses had fluffy, little broods parading along behind, ready to claim their waterfront real estate as soon as the ice stopped being ice.

Translations

female duck — see duck