duck shot
- noun
- Specialized
:
munición para patos
- The shotgun is loaded with #8 duck shot, hardly big enough to stop a Black Lab on its appointed rounds.
Examples
-
He chose #6 duck shot for his hunt, aiming to bring home some mallards for dinner.
-
For waterfowl hunting, it's best to switch to duck shot when you spot a group in the marsh.
-
The guide recommended using duck shot to improve our chances of a successful catch.
Synonyms
23
4.9
A small metal ball fired from a shotgun
1
5.8
Small round lead pellets used in shotgun shells to hunt small birds
How Big
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun denotes a type of 'shot' associated with 'duck' (i.e., small pellets used for hunting ducks), so the meaning is directly and predictably derived from the constituents. This kind of target+item compound is compositional and common cross-linguistically, so an average B1 learner who knows 'duck' and 'shot' will readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Duck shot comes from hunting: hunters put many small lead pellets in shotgun shells to hit ducks in flight, so the parts duck and shot literally name those pellets. That's why duck shot now means the small lead pellets used in shotgun shells for 'hunting ducks' and other water birds.