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In 16th-century France, vendre des canards à moitié was a colorful way of saying "to fool" or "to cheat." The French phrase means, literally, "to half-sell ducks." No one now knows just what was meant by "to half-sell"; the saying was probably based on some story widely known at the time, but the details have not survived. Lost stories aside, the expression led to the use of canard, the French word for "duck," to refer to a hoax or fabrication. English speakers adopted this canard in the mid-1800s. The aeronautical sense of canard, used from the early days of flying, comes from the stubby duck-like appearance of the aircraft.
Examples of canard in a Sentence
Kapil Kajal, Interesting Engineering, 1 Sep. 2025
This canard has returned in high relief.
—Avi Weiss, New York Daily News, 10 Aug. 2025
There are many misconceptions about immigrants in Los Angeles, but none more disorienting than the canard — so popular among Trump administration representatives — that those immigrants who arrived without papers somehow live apart from the rest of the city.
—Jim Newton, Mercury News, 27 June 2025
That includes an active double-blade rear wing and underfloor strakes, as well as a bigger hood vent and canards.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for canard
Cite this Entry
“Canard.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/canard. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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