Swan vs Drake - What's the difference?
swan | drake |
Any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus , most of which have white plumage.
(figuratively) One whose grace etc. suggests a swan.
(British) To travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.
* 2010 , Lee Rourke, The Canal , Melville House Publishing (2010), ISBN 9781935554905,
* 2013 , Tilly Bagshawe, One Summer’s Afternoon , HarperCollins (2013), ISBN 9780007472550,
(US, slang) To declare (chiefly in first-person present constructions).
* 1907 December, J. D. Archer, Foiling an eavesdropper'', in ''Telephony , volume 14, page 345:
* 1940 , (Raymond Chandler), Farewell, My Lovely , Penguin 2010, page 214:
A mayfly used as fishing bait.
A dragon.
* J. A. Harrison
(historical) A small piece of artillery.
* Clarendon
As nouns the difference between swan and drake
is that swan is any of various species of large, long-necked waterfowl, of genus Cygnus, most of which have white plumage while drake is a male duck.As proper nouns the difference between swan and drake
is that swan is {{surname} while Drake is {{surname|from=nicknames}}, notably of Francis Drake (1540-1596).As a verb swan
is to travel or move about in an aimless, idle, or pretentiously casual way.swan
English
(wikipedia swan)Etymology 1
From (etyl) (m), from (etyl) .Noun
(en-noun)Derived terms
* swanling * swan species: black swan, black-necked swan, mute swan, trumpeter swan, tundra swan, whooper swan * swan boat * swan dive * swanherd * swannery * swansdown * swanskin * swan songSee also
* cob (adult male) * cygnet (epicene, young) * lamentation * pen (adult female)Verb
(swann)unnumbered page:
- He swans' around that stinking office in his expensive clothes that are a little too tight for comfort, he ' swans around that stinking office without a care in the world.
unnumbered page:
- One of the few strokes of good luck Emma had had in recent days was the news that Tatiana Flint-Hamilton, her only real rival for top billing as 'most photographable girl' at today's event had decided to swan off to Sardinia instead, leaving the limelight entirely to Emma.
Usage notes
* In the sense "to travel", usually used as part of the phrase "to swan about" or "to swan around".Etymology 2
Probably from dialectal , contraction of "I shall warrant"; later seen as a minced form of (term).Verb
(swann)- "Well, I swan , man, I had a better opinion of you than that."
- ‘She slammed the door so hard I figured a window'd break .’ ‘I swan ,’ I said.
Anagrams
* (l) * (l) * (l) * (l) ----drake
English
Etymology 1
From (etyl) . More at (l).Derived terms
* ducks and drakes * sheldrakeEtymology 2
From (etyl) and (etyl) Drache.Noun
(en noun)- Beowulf resolves to kill the drake .
- Two or three shots, made at them by a couple of drakes , made them stagger.
