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