quack like a duck
Waterfowl voice imitation
To quack like a duck is to produce the flat, nasal sound characteristic of ducks—a repeated "quack quack." The phrase often appears in the aphorism if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck, meaning that when something has all the characteristics of a thing, it likely is that thing despite claims otherwise.
- waddleSwaying, clumsy gait
- swimMove through water
- imitateReproduce another's behavior
- billAmount owed, written
- webInterwoven filament structure
honk · proverb · onomatopoeia · analogy · water · appearances · idiom · figure of speech · wing · mimicry · genuine · authentic · diagnostic · splash · webbed feet · impersonation · dabbling · pond life