duck-billed

Thân thiện

A duck-billed dinosaur wades through a shallow prehistoric lake.

Definition

Adjective: Having a beak or snout that resembles that of a duck.

Usage

The adjective "duck-billed" is used to describe an animal, typically a prehistoric creature, whose most distinctive feature is a broad, flat bill similar to that of a duck. It is almost always used attributively (before a noun).

Examples

• The duck-billed platypus is a unique egg-laying mammal from Australia.
• Paleontologists discovered fossils of a large duck-billed dinosaur, formally known as a hadrosaur.
• The creature's duck-billed snout was perfectly adapted for sifting through plants in shallow water.

Advanced Usage

• The term is primarily used in established compound names for specific animals, most famously the "duck-billed platypus" () and "duck-billed dinosaurs" (the hadrosaurid family).
• It can be used in a more general descriptive sense for any animal with a similar facial structure, though this is less common.

Variants and Related Words

• Hadrosaur (n): The formal scientific name for the group of dinosaurs commonly called "duck-billed dinosaurs."
• Platypus (n): The common name for the , often preceded by "duck-billed."

Synonyms

• Broad-billed: Having a wide bill (less specific to duck-like shape).
• Spatulate: Having a broad, rounded end (technical term, often used in biology).

Antonyms

• Sharp-beaked
• Pointed-snouted
• Hooked-bill

Học thuật

Adjective

1. having a beak resembling that of a duck
   • a duck-billed dinosaur

Từ đồng nghĩa

• duckbill