Meaning & use
quack
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Meanings
nouncountable
The loud, harsh sound a duck makes.
Grammar: Count noun: a loud quack; also a verb with the same meaning.
Patterns
- let out a quack
The duck gave a loud quack when the children threw bread.
We heard a quack from the pond in the dark.
A chorus of quacks rose from the reeds.
verbintransitive
To make the loud, harsh sound of a duck.
Grammar: No object: the ducks quack.
Patterns
- ducks quack
The ducks quacked angrily at the dog.
A toy duck quacks when you squeeze it.
He quacked back at the duck to make the baby laugh.
nouncountableinformaldisapproving
A person who claims to have medical skills or cures that they do not really have.
Grammar: Insulting, aimed at a fake or unqualified healer.
Patterns
- a quack doctor
- a quack cure
The quack sold bottles of colored water as a cure for every illness.
She warned her friends not to trust the quack who promised instant weight loss.
Reporters exposed the quack who had no medical training.
Word forms
| plural | quacks |
|---|---|
| third person singular | quacks |
| past tense | quacked |
| -ing form | quacking |
Common combinations
- loud quack
- The loud quack startled the picnickers.
- quack cure
- The ad promoted a quack cure for baldness.
- quack doctor
- A quack doctor charged patients for useless pills.
- quack remedy
- The pills were a quack remedy and did nothing.
- ducks quack
- Ducks quack to call to each other.
Synonyms and how they differ
- charlatan
- Charlatan is a more general word for anyone who pretends to have skills, while quack is used for fake medicine.
- fraud
- Fraud is broader and can mean any deceiver, whereas quack points specifically to a fake healer.
- fake doctor
- Fake doctor is plain and literal, while quack carries a stronger sense of scorn.
- mountebank
- Mountebank is an old word for a fake healer who sells medicines in public places and now sounds literary.
Word family
- quackery noun
- the false claims of someone pretending to heal
- quacksalver noun
- an old word for a quack
Commonly confused: quack or quake?
quack vs quake
Quake means to shake, as in an earthquake. It is not a sound that a duck makes.
Practice
Reporters called him a quack. What did they mean?
Choose one answer.
Quack in this sense means a fake medical practitioner. Its link to ducks is only through the sound.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “quack”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.