HOW TO PRONOUNCE
quack
/kwæk/
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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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What does quack mean?
noun
- The vocalisation made by a duck.
verb
- Of a duck, to make its characteristic vocalisation.
- To make a sound similar to the quack of a duck.
More meanings (8)
verb
- Of a queen bee: to make a high-pitched sound during certain stages of development.
- To practice or commit quackery (fraudulent medicine).
- (obsolete) To make vain and loud pretensions.
interjection
- A duck's quack.
adjective
- Falsely presented as having medicinal powers.
noun
- (derogatory) A fraudulent healer, especially a bombastic peddler in worthless treatments, a doctor who makes false diagnoses for monetary benefit, or an untrained or poorly trained doctor who uses fraudulent credentials to attract patients
- (derogatory, figuratively) Any similar charlatan or incompetent professional.
- (derogatory, humorous, slang) Any doctor.
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/kwæk/
CMU Pronouncing Dictionary ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
When all was said, a man in the presence of this quack did feel in the presence of a great man.
There are none either that afford the quack or patent-nostrum monger a larger field for the practice of his fiendish gifts.
More book examples (2)
He was a quack dentist on his rounds, who was offering to the public full sets of teeth, opiates, powders and elixirs.
He threw out biting remarks on Lydgate’s tricks, worthy only of a quack, to get himself a factitious reputation with credulous people.