Adjacent Words

ruddy duck definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: reddish-brown stiff-tailed duck of North America and northern South America [syn: ruddy duck, Oxyura jamaicensis]

Merriam Webster's

noun Date: 1814 an American duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) with a long tail of stiff feathers, a broad bill, and in the breeding male a brownish-red back and sides and a blue bill

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Ruddy Rud"dy, a. [Compar. Ruddier; superl. Ruddiest.] [AS. rudig. See Rud, n.] 1. Of a red color; red, or reddish; as, a ruddy sky; a ruddy flame. --Milton. They were more ruddy in body than rubies. --Lam. iv. 7. 2. Of a lively flesh color, or the color of the human skin in high health; as, ruddy cheeks or lips. --Dryden. Ruddy duck (Zo["o]l.), an American duck (Erismatura rubida) having a broad bill and a wedge-shaped tail composed of stiff, sharp feathers. The adult male is rich brownish red on the back, sides, and neck, black on the top of the head, nape, wings, and tail, and white on the cheeks. The female and young male are dull brown mixed with blackish on the back; grayish below. Called also dunbird, dundiver, ruddy diver, stifftail, spinetail, hardhead, sleepy duck, fool duck, spoonbill, etc. Ruddy plover (Zo["o]l.) the sanderling.