媒鸭

媒鴨

méiyā

noun

Measure Word

一只媒鸭 zhī

Meanings

1 decoy duck; a tame or artificial duck used to lure wild ducks within range of hunters

Characters

matchmaker; intermediary; decoy

Examples

猎人在水面上放了几只媒鸭。

Lièrén zài shuǐmiàn shàng fàngle jǐ zhī méiyā.

The hunter placed several decoy ducks on the water.

媒鸭可以引诱野鸭飞下来。

Méiyā kěyǐ yǐnyòu yěyā fēi xiàlái.

Decoy ducks lure wild ducks down from the air.

Tips

usage

媒 here means 'matchmaker / intermediary' — the duck mediates between hunter and prey. The English word 'decoy' is actually a calque of Dutch 'de kooi' (the cage) and refers to the same hunting technique; Chinese 媒鸭 covers both live tame ducks and carved wooden/plastic models.

Stroke Order

媒 méi

鸭 yā