ruddy duck
- noun
- /ˈrʌdi dʌk/
- US
:
pato rufo
- The local wildlife photographer captured stunning images of ruddy ducks nestled among the reeds in the marsh.
Examples
-
When a few hundred ruddy ducks were wiped out by a Chesapeake flyway spill, measures were taken to improve one of their nesting areas on a Nebraska prairie.
Academic text (2011) -
We drove a bit further down the road to the parking lot of the Burger Barge, where I saw a large raft of ruddy ducks with a few lesser scaup mixed in, but still none of my target birds.
Blog text (20) -
At the nature reserve, we spotted several ruddy ducks gliding across the water with their distinctive reddish-brown bodies.
-
During our bird-watching trip, we observed a flock of ruddy ducks swimming together in the serene pond.
Synonyms
290
1.0
A water bird with webbed feet, a wide beak, and short neck
A small reddish-brown duck with a stiff tail that lives in North and northern South America called the ruddy duck
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is a straightforward descriptive combination: 'ruddy' (reddish) + 'duck' (aquatic bird) yields a duck with a reddish/reddish-brown coloration, so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer the referent. The adjective+noun color-description pattern is common across languages and follows regular English composition, making the expression immediately comprehensible.
Etymology
Ruddy duck comes from a simple description: ruddy means 'reddish-brown' and duck is the bird, so the name labels the small duck with a reddish body and a stiff tail. That's why today ruddy duck refers to that particular small, reddish duck species.