ducks and drakes love

ducks and drakes

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The game of skipping flat stones along the surface of water.
  • idiom (make ducks and drakes of/play ducks and drakes with) To squander; waste.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A pastime of throwing flat stones across water so as to make them bounce off the surface.
  • noun squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions like "to make ducks and drakes of", "to play (at) ducks and drakes with".

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a game in which a flat stone is bounced along the surface of calm water

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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.

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  • (n): the game of skipping stones across the surface of a river, pond, or other body of water to see who can accomplish the most "skips".

    January 12, 2009