canard

[ kuh-nahrd; French ka-nar ]
/ kəˈnɑrd; French kaˈnar /

noun, plural ca·nards [kuh-nahrdz; French ka-nar] /kəˈnɑrdz; French kaˈnar/.

a false or baseless, usually derogatory story, report, or rumor.
Cookery. a duck intended or used for food.
Aeronautics.
  1. an airplane that has its horizontal stabilizer and elevators located forward of the wing.
  2. Also called canard wing. one of two small lifting wings located in front of the main wings.
  3. an early airplane having a pusher engine with the rudder and elevator assembly in front of the wings.

Origin of canard

1840–50; < French: literally, duck; Old French quanart drake, orig. cackler, equivalent to can(er) to cackle (of expressive orig.) + -art -art, as in mallart drake; see mallard

Example sentences from the Web for canard

British Dictionary definitions for canard

canard
/ (kæˈnɑːd, French kanar) /

noun

a false report; rumour or hoax
an aircraft in which the tailplane is mounted in front of the wing

Word Origin for canard

C19: from French: a duck, hoax, from Old French caner to quack, of imitative origin