Quacking

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The action of emitting a distinctive sound characteristic of certain waterfowl
2. A vocal expression that resembles the typical noise produced by ducks
3. Producing the loud, harsh sound typical of ducks when they communicate

Etymology: "Quacking" is the present participle of "quack," and the verb itself is imitative: it grew out of the sound a duck makes. Middle English had "quacken" and "queken," meaning to croak like a frog or to make the noise of a duck, goose, or quail, and these came from the interjection "quack" that already existed in the language. Behind that lies a Germanic root, *kwakōn, meaning "to croak," which is why German "quaken," Danish "kvække," and Swedish "kväka" all carry the same sense of a throaty, frog-like cry. The same sound also produced a very different word. Middle Dutch "quacsalver," literally a "quack-salver" or one who boasts while peddling salves, gave English "quacksalver," meaning a charlatan who sells fake remedies. English later clipped this to "quack," and the noise of the duck and the swindling healer share one ancestry, though their meanings have moved far apart.

Synonyms: quack, croaking