Definition of Dead duck

1. Noun. Something doomed to failure. "As theories go, that's a dead duck"

Generic synonyms: Failure

Definition of Dead duck

1. Noun. (idiomatic) One who is in serious danger or trouble. ¹

2. Noun. (idiomatic) A project that is doomed to failure from the start. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Lexicographical Neighbors of Dead Duck

dead ball
dead bat
dead beat
dead bird
dead body
dead calm
dead cat bounce
dead center
dead centre
dead cert
dead code
dead donkey
dead donkeys
dead drop
dead duck (current term)
dead ducks
dead end
dead ends
dead fingers
dead first
dead foetus syndrome
dead furrow
dead giveaway
dead hand
dead hand of the past
dead heat
dead heats
dead horse
dead ice

Literary usage of Dead duck

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Bulls and Bears of New York: With the Crisis of 1873, and the Cause by Matthew Hale Smith (1874)
""dead duck." When a speculator cannot meet his contracts he goes under, /ind is expelled the Board. A "Lame Duck " is one who has lost heavily by his ..."

2. The Investor's Catechism by Marcus Mathias Reynolds (1909)
"What is a DUCK; dead duck; LAME DUCK ? They are London Stock Exchange phrases seldom heard in Wall Street. A "duck" is a broker. The "lame duck" is a broker ..."

3. The American Boys Handy Book by Daniel Carter Beard (1890)
"... bird will not discover the cheat until it is too late to retreat, provided the reader is a good shot. Fig. 311 shows the dead duck set up as a decoy. ..."

4. The Annual Register, Or, A View of the History, Politics, and Literature for by Edmund Burke (1830)
"... that an indictment for stealing a duck was not supported by proving that the prisoner had stolen a dead duck ; that is, that a dead duck was not a duck. ..."

5. The Annual Register edited by Edmund Burke (1830)
"(1820. ported by proving that the prisoner had stolen a dead duck; that is, that a dead duck was not a duck. —Mr. Clinton,for the prosecution, ..."

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