Meaning of dead duck | Babel Free

Definitions

1. One who is in serious danger or trouble.
   idiomatic
2. A project that is doomed to failure from the start.
   idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“She's a dead duck if she starts flirting with my boyfriend!”

“The government decision meant that the proposed boycott of South African goods was a dead duck.”

“The "most important suburban line—to Clifton Down, Avonmouth Dock and Severn Beach" has, I fear, been a dead duck for years. (It still exists in 2021)”

“They may have⟳ finished 11 points behind West Ham and lost both league games, conceding eight goals, but the Tangerine dream⟳ remains alive. Holloway said: “We won’t get⟳ a bigger test⟳ than West Ham but we’ve got one chance. If you’d asked me last⟳ summer when I lost all those players I’d have⟳ said this was a dead duck, but we don’t lie⟳ down at this club.””

CEFR level