Word.ws English Dictionary

like a duck to water

like a duck to water is the alternative form of like a duck takes to water.

Meaning of like a duck takes to water

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic, simile) Very naturally; without effort.
    • Near-synonyms: smoothly, gracefully
    Antonyms:
    like a fish out of water

Questions about like a duck to water

What is like a duck to water the alternative form of?
Like a duck to water is the alternative form of like a duck takes to water.

Words near like a duck to water in the dictionary

  1. like a dog with two tails
  2. like a dose of salts
  3. like a dream
  4. like a drowned rat
  5. like a duck takes to water
  6. like a duck to water
  7. like a dying duck in a thunderstorm
  8. like a fart in church
  9. like a hawk
  10. like a headless chicken
  11. like a headless chook

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: like a duck to water (page history and authors); like a duck takes to water (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-like a duck to water.ogg.

Cite this entry: “like a duck to water.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/like_a_duck_to_water. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.