Definition of Sheldrake

1. Noun. Large crested fish-eating diving duck having a slender hooked bill with serrated edges.


2. Noun. Old World gooselike duck slightly larger than a mallard with variegated mostly black-and-white plumage and a red bill.
Generic synonyms: Duck
Group relationships: Genus Tadorna, Tadorna
Specialized synonyms: Shelduck

Definition of Sheldrake

1. n. Any one of several species of large Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna and allied genera, especially the European and Asiatic species. (T. cornuta, or tadorna), which somewhat resembles a goose in form and habit, but breeds in burrows.

Definition of Sheldrake

1. Proper noun. (surname A=An English from=Middle English) ¹

2. Noun. common name for various Old World duck species of the genus tadorna ¹

3. Noun. merganser ¹

4. Noun. a male shelduck ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Sheldrake

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Sheldrake

1. 1. Any one of several species of large Old World ducks of the genus Tadorna and allied genera, especially the European and Asiatic species. (T. Cornuta, or tadorna), which somewhat resembles a goose in form and habit, but breeds in burrows. It has the head and neck greenish black, the breast, sides, and forward part of the back brown, the shoulders and middle of belly black, the speculum green, and the bill and frontal bright red. Synonym: shelduck, shellduck, sheldfowl, skeelduck, bergander, burrow duck, and links goose. The Australian sheldrake (Tadorna radja) has the head, neck, breast, flanks, and wing coverts white, the upper part of the back and a band on the breast deep chestnut, and the back and tail black. The chestnut sheldrake of Australia (Casarca tadornoides) is varied with black and chestnut, and has a dark green head and neck. The ruddy sheldrake, or Braminy duck (C. Rutila), and the white-winged sheldrake (C. Leucoptera), are related Asiatic species. 2. Any one of the American mergansers. The name is also loosely applied to other ducks, as the canvasback, and the shoveler. Origin: Sheld + drake. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Sheldrake

sheitans
sheitel
sheitels
shekalim
shekel
shekelim
shekels
shekere
shekeres
shekhinah
shekinah
shekinahs
sheld
sheldaple
sheldfowl
sheldrake
sheldrakes
sheldrickite
shelduck
shelducks
shelele
shelf
shelf-talker
shelf bracket
shelf cloud
shelf clouds
shelf fungus
shelf ice
shelf life
shelf lives

Literary usage of Sheldrake

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. The Monthly Review by Ralph Griffiths (1796)
"The principle on which Mr. Sheldrake has proceeded in his endeavours to cure the deformities, mentioned in the title, ..."

2. The Journal of the Society of Chemical Industry by Society of Chemical Industry (1884)
"Loch Sheldrake. An explosive i u- pound. August 8, 1883. ... SR Divine Loch Sheldrake NY A process of pre- 11)119 CC Oilman, Eldora. Iowa. ..."

3. Homes Without Hands: Being a Description of the Habitations of Animals by John George Wood (1866)
"... and Sheldrake—Nest of the Sheldrake—The BEE-EATER, and its habits—Its burrow and nest—The STORMY PETREL—Its mode of nesting and shallow tunnels—mode of ..."

4. Retrospect of Philosophical, Mechanical, Chemical, and Agricultural Discoveries (1811)
"Is this paper, Mr. Sheldrake institutes a kind of inquiry respecting the comparative merits of the ramera lucida and ..."

5. The Algonquin Legends of New England: Or, Myths and Folk Lore of the Micmac by Charles Godfrey Leland (1884)
"I have given this story accurately as it was told to me by Tomah Josephs, a Passamaquoddy Indian. How one of the Partridge's Wives became a Sheldrake Duck, ..."

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