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Glite Dictionary
🐟 A paddlefish 🦆 A platypus 🦖 Duck-shaped snout
duckbill

duckbill

1 8.6
A large freshwater fish with a long flat snout like a paddle
  • noun
  • /ˈdʌkˌbɪl/
  • US
translation icon : pescado pala
  • duckbill dinosaur

Examples

  • That meant a herd of ten thousand duckbills would support only twenty-five tyrannosaurs.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Then it is on, on to spy on something with a long neck and a comic knobby head, and then to watch a pair of angry ceratopsians butting heads in slow motion, and then to applaud the elegant migration of a herd of towering duckbills across the horizon.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • The duckbill is a fascinating species of fish that can be found swimming in the Mississippi river.

  • Many anglers appreciate the unique flavor of the meat from a duckbill caught in fresh waters.

  • In the museum, we saw a detailed model of a duckbill, showcasing its long, paddle-shaped snout.

Synonyms

paddlefish
vsduckbill
  • Specialized
1 9.0

A large freshwater fish from North America with a long paddle-shaped snout

has the same meaning but uses a different common name
Polyodon spathula
vsduckbill
  • Specialized
9.9

A large freshwater fish with a long paddle-shaped snout that lives in the Mississippi River

is the everyday common name rather than the scientific label

Surface Forms

duckbill singular
duckbills plural

Morphology

duckbill = duck + bill (transparent) = duck + bill

A straightforward compound 'duck' + 'bill' referring to a fish with a bill like a duck; the meaning is directly inferable from the parts.

Etymology

Duckbill for the freshwater fish comes from its long, flat snout that looks like a duck bill, almost like a paddle, so the name points to the fish's most obvious feature: a wide, duck-like 'beak'.