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a drake
drake 指成年雄性鸭；母鸭或泛指通常用 duck。
A drake is swimming on the lake.
一只公鸭正在湖上游泳。
公鸭
drakes — plural of drake
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
公鸭
adult male of a wild or domestic duck
A drake is swimming on the lake.
一只公鸭正在湖上游泳。
公鸭。
A male duck (animal).
鸟喙形船首的桨帆船,或维京战船。
beaked galley, or Viking warship
火流星(在许多文化中称为火蛇或龙)。
a fiery meteor (variously known as fiery serpents and dragons in many cultures)
蜉蝣。
mayfly
The drake swam across the pond with its mate.
公鸭和它的伴侣一起游过池塘。
We saw a colorful drake in the park near the lake.
我们在湖边的公园里看到一只颜色鲜艳的公鸭。
On the farm, the farmer keeps one drake with every five ducks.
农场里，农夫每养五只鸭子就配一只公鸭。
drake 指成年雄性鸭；母鸭或泛指通常用 duck。
A drake is swimming on the lake.
一只公鸭正在湖上游泳。
drakes 是规则的复数形式。
The drakes have bright green heads.
这些公鸭长着亮绿色的头。
Not this
A mother drake is looking after her ducklings.
Use this
A mother duck is looking after her ducklings.
drake 专指公鸭，不能用来指母鸭；句子中的 mother 和 her 都表明这是母鸭，所以要用 duck。
Not this
There are three drake in the pond.
Use this
There are three drakes in the pond.
drake 是可数名词，复数形式为 drakes；数词 three 后面必须用复数。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
雄绿头鸭
A mallard drake swam across the pond.
一只雄绿头鸭游过池塘。
公鸭和母鸭
The drake and hen are usually easy to tell apart in spring.
春天公鸭和母鸭通常很容易分辨。
处于非繁殖羽的雄鸭
An eclipse drake can be mistaken for a female.
处于非繁殖羽的雄鸭可能会被误认为是雌鸭。
绿蜉蝣
Trout were rising to a hatch of green drakes.
鳟鱼浮上水面捕食新孵出的绿蜉蝣。
打水漂；挥霍浪费
He played ducks and drakes with his inheritance.
他把遗产挥霍一空。
Use drakes naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
把 drake 拆成 d + rake（耙子）：想象一只公鸭用扁嘴像耙子一样梳理羽毛，记住 d 开头的 rake 就是公鸭。
语域：neutral 常见场景：wildlife observation、farming、natural history writing 该词为中性词，通常用于指公鸭，多出现在动物学、农业或自然观察等语境；日常口语中较少用，人们常直接说 male duck。
作“公鸭”讲时指雄性鸭；作人名指英国航海家德雷克，首字母大写。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.