rubber duck, noun phrase
- Origin:
- Australian and U.S. EnglishShow more Used also in Australian and U.S. English (usually as rubber duckie), but its origin is uncertain.
colloquial
An inflatable flat-bottomed rubber dinghy, often motorized; duckie noun2. Also attributive.
1986 Motorist 3rd Quarter 14The Tugela Challenge is thought to be the longest in the world for inflatables — ‘rubber ducks’.
1990 Daily Dispatch 10 Sept. 5 (caption)Lionel and Nadia Endersby..watch the Gonubie rubber duck challenge on Saturday.
An inflatable flat-bottomed rubber dinghy, often motorized; duckie noun2. Also attributive.
- Derivatives:
- Hence rubber ducker noun phrase, the pilot of a rubber duck; a rubber duck enthusiast.1994 R. Olivier in E. Prov. Herald 30 Aug. 3The near-fatal injury of livesaver Wayne Willets, gashed on the head by a dingy at the mouth of the Swartkops River at the weekend, has rekindled the feud between rubber duckers and surfers over right of way...The river mouth..has been a bone of contention between surfers and rubber duckers for some time.
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