Lexic.us

Definition of Duckbill

1. Noun. Primitive fish of the Mississippi valley having a long paddle-shaped snout.

2. Adjective. Having a beak resembling that of a duck. "A duck-billed dinosaur"

3. Noun. Small densely furred aquatic monotreme of Australia and Tasmania having a broad bill and tail and webbed feet; only species in the family Ornithorhynchidae.

Definition of Duckbill

1. n. See Duck mole, under Duck, n.

Definition of Duckbill

1. Noun. The duck-billed platypus. ¹

2. Noun. The hadrosaur. ¹

3. Noun. The paddlefish. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Duckbill

1. a platypus [n -S] - See also: platypus

Medical Definition of Duckbill

1. 1. Any bird of the subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae. The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck (Anas boschas); the wood duck (Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China (Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America (Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc. Bombay duck, a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole. 2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water. "Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod." (Milton) Origin: OE. Duke, doke. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Duckbill

duck plague virus duck sauce duck shot duck soup duck soups duck stamp duck stamps duck tape duck tapes duck test

duck tests duck typing duck viral enteritis duck viral hepatitis duckarsed duckbill (current term) duckbilled duckbilled platypus duckbills duckboard

duckboards duckburger duckburgers ducked ducked and covered ducker duckeries duckers duckery

Literary usage of Duckbill

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

1. The Retrospect of Medicine by William Braithwaite (1880)
"I wish to bring before the notice of the profession a modification of the usual form of Sims' duckbill speculum, as sold by the instrument makers. ..."

2. A Geographical History of Mammals by Richard Lydekker (1896)
"THE duckbill. (Ornithorhynchus anatinus.} one of which is widely different from the other two and forms a family by itself, while the latter constitute a ..."

3. A System of Gynaecology by Thomas Clifford Allbutt, William Smoult Playfair (1896)
"I have not used a tent for several years, as I find rapid dilatation answers all purposes when Flo. 78.— duckbill speculum (Sims'). ..."

4. On Mammalian Descent; the Hunterian Lectures for 1884: Being Nine Lectures by William Kitchen Parker (1885)
"... new shoot are still represented by the " Monotremes," namely, the duckbill and the ... duckbill ..."

5. Incidents of a Collector's Rambles in Australia, New Zealand, and New Guinea by Sherman Foote Denton (1889)
"... Plenty Ranges —Giant Kingfishers—Parrots—Beautiful Beetles — Pouched Bears — Collecting on the Yara River —The duckbill Platypus —Song of the Lyre-Bird ..."

6. The Life of Animals: The Mammals by Ernest Ingersoll (1907)
"... MONOTREMATA THERE remain to be accounted for those strange, antique mammals, the duckbill and echidnas, which stand in a group inferior to and widely ..."

7. The Story of Creation: A Plain Account of Evolution by Edward Clodd (1888)
"... those of birds and reptiles in containing not only the protoplasm from which the embryo is formed, but also FIG. 59.—duckbill. the food-yolk on which ..."

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