What does "drake" mean?
A male duck.
Drake
/dɹeɪk/ name, noun
name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A male duck.
- Grammar: drake is listed as name, noun.
- Nearest alternatives: adult male duck, bantam, banty, barn-door fowl.
- Useful contrasts: hen, human, mortal.
- Usage evidence: Perry decided to gain information from Drake.
How to use "drake"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "drake" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "drake" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "drake" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "drake" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "drake" is acting as name, noun in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adult male duck" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "drake", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A male duck.
"A drake belonging to a chemist, having drunk water out of a copper vessel which had contained phosphorous, continued its amorous activities until death."
- 2 dragon poetic
"Clay caught sight of the drake's wing outlined against the rising flames as it swept low over the desert."
- 3 adult male of a wild or domestic duck wordnet
- 4 dragon; lesser draconic creature poetic
- 5 beaked galley, or Viking warship
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 small piece of artillery historical
"Two or three shots, made at them by a couple of drakes, made them stagger."
- 7 a fiery meteor (variously known as fiery serpents and dragons in many cultures)
"The moon’s my constant Mistresse & the lowlie owle my morrowe. The flaming Drake and yͤ Nightcrowe make"
- 8 mayfly
- 9 mayfly; a mayfly used as fishing bait
Proper Noun
- 1 An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.
- 2 An English surname transferred from the nickname, originally a byname from Old English draca or Old Norse draki, both meaning “dragon”.; Francis Drake (1540-1596), English sea captain, pirate, and explorer of the Elizabethan era.
- 3 An Irish surname, anglicized from Drach, itself a Hiberno-Norman name English Drake.
- 4 A male given name transferred from the surname.
"Drake was not at all what I'd anticipated. His macho soap opera name had put me in mind of aristocrats or oversexed mallards."
- 5 A locality in the Tenterfield council area, north eastern New South Wales, Australia.
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 A village in Saskatchewan, Canada.
- 7 A ward of Plymouth, Devon, England; named for aqueduct Drake's Leat, itself for Francis Drake, Mayor of Plymouth at the time of its construction.
- 8 A locale in the United States.; A city in North Dakota; named for early settler Herman Drake.
- 9 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Yavapai County, Arizona.
- 10 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Colorado.
- 11 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Illinois.
- 12 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Kentucky.
- 13 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in Missouri; named for Missouri statesman Charles D. Drake.
- 14 A locale in the United States.; An unincorporated community in South Carolina.
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"Perry decided to gain information from Drake."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "drake"?
Common synonyms include: adult male duck, bantam, banty, barn-door fowl, barnyard fowl, biddy.
How do you use "drake" in a sentence?
Perry decided to gain information from Drake.
How do you pronounce "drake"?
Pronounced /dɹeɪk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English drake (“male duck, drake”), from Old English *draca, abbreviated form for Old English *andraca (“male duck, drake”, literally “duck-king”), from Proto-West Germanic *anadrekō (“duck leader”). Cognate with Low German drake (“drake”), Dutch draak (“drake”), German Enterich (“drake”). More at annet.
Etymology 2
From Middle English drake (“dragon; Satan”), from Old English draca (“dragon, sea monster, huge serpent”), from Proto-West Germanic *drakō (“dragon”), from Latin dracō (“dragon”), from Ancient Greek δράκων (drákōn, “serpent, giant seafish”), from δέρκομαι (dérkomai, “I see clearly”). Compare Middle Dutch drake and German Drache. Doublet of dragon.
Etymology 3
* As an English surname, from both senses of the noun drake meaning "male duck" and "dragon." * As a German surname, from Low German drake (“dragon”), related to the above. * As a Dutch surname, Americanized/West Flemish variant of Draak, also related to the above.