canard

noun

ca·​nard kə-ˈnärd 

 also  -ˈnär

1

a

: a false or unfounded report or story

especially : a fabricated report

The report about a conspiracy proved to be a canard.

b

: a groundless rumor or belief

the widespread canard that every lawyer is dishonest

2

: an airplane with horizontal stabilizing and control surfaces in front of supporting surfaces

also : a small airfoil in front of the wing of an aircraft that can increase the aircraft's performance

Did you know?

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 proverb was probably based on some story widely known at the time, but the details have not survived. At any rate, the expression led to the use of canard, the French word for "duck," with the meaning of "a hoax" or "a 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.

Synonyms

• story
• tale
• whisper

Examples of canard in a Sentence

The book repeats some of history's oldest canards.

the widespread canard that every lawyer is dishonest

Recent Examples on the Web

For starters, we should be disabused of the canard that an incumbent president would be handcuffed in discharging constitutional duties if subject to prosecution. —Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 4 Dec. 2024

And so much for the old canard about how children of shrinks grow up to be emotional wrecks. —Sigrid Nunez, The New Yorker, 1 Sep. 2024

Best, a University of Delaware professor — known for debunking the razor-blades-in-the-apples canard every Halloween since 1985 — spotted the telltale urban myth giveaways immediately. —Benjamin Svetkey, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 June 2024

After the Russian empire claimed Ukrainian territory from a partitioned Poland, its scholars invented a convenient story of how the two lands were one, a canard that Putin recycled in his essay last year. —Timothy Snyder, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022

Word History

Etymology

French, literally, duck; in sense 1, from Middle French vendre des canards à moitié to cheat, literally, to half-sell ducks

First Known Use

1843, in the meaning defined at sense 1a