🐟 A paddlefish 🦆 A platypus 🦖 Duck-shaped snout

duckbill

1 7.3

A small egg-laying mammal with a broad bill and webbed feet

noun
/ˈdʌkˌbɪl/

Australian

: ornitorrinco

We saw a duckbill while hiking near the wetlands in Tasmania.

Examples

Well, there's always the thing that brings warmth to my heart... ...and that is duckbill platypus.

Runaway Bride (1999)
A short, black duckbill shot out from her forehead.

Fiction book (1994)
The duckbill platypus swims gracefully in the rivers of Australia.
The children were excited to learn about the duckbill, a unique mammal with a bill like a duck.

Synonyms

platypus

vsduckbill

Australian

15 5.8

A small Australian mammal that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill, webbed feet, and a flat tail

is an alternative or descriptive name for the same animal

duck-billed platypus

vsduckbill

Australian

1 7.2

A mammal from Australia that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill and webbed feet

is the same animal name but in a different orthographic form

duckbilled platypus

vsduckbill

Australian

6.5

A small Australian mammal with thick fur, webbed feet, and a broad flat bill that lays eggs

is the same animal name but in a different orthographic form

Ornithorhynchus anatinus

vsduckbill

Australian

9.9

A small furry water animal in Australia and Tasmania with a broad duck-like bill and webbed feet

is the common descriptive name used in ordinary language

Surface Forms

duckbill singular

duckbills plural

Morphology

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

The compound clearly denotes an animal with a bill like a duck; learners can infer the meaning from the parts.

Etymology

Duckbill for the platypus comes from its broad, soft beak that looks like a duck bill, so the name reminds you of the animal's most famous and unusual feature: a duck-like 'bill'.