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 throwingflat stones across water so as to make thembounce off thesurface . - noun
squandering of resources, especially money; used in expressions like "tomake ducks and drakes of", "toplay (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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Examples
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hernesheir commented on the word ducks and drakes
(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