Link Centre Dictionary

dud

UK/dʌd/ US/ˈdʌd/ uncommon informal obsolete
noun (3) adjective (1)

noun

1.
2.

an explosion that fails to occur

Synonyms
3.

an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual

  • “the first experiment was a real turkey”
  • “the meeting was a dud as far as new business was concerned”
Synonyms

adjective

1.

failing to detonate; especially not charged with an active explosive

  • “he stepped on a dud mine”
Similar

Origin

From Middle English dudde (“cloak, mantle, kind of cloth; ragged clothing or cloth”), from Old English *dudda (attested only as personal name Dudda, part of modern English Dudley), akin to Old Norse dúði (“swaddling clothes”), Low German dudel. Possibly borrowed from the Old Norse word and related to dýja (“to shake, tremble”).

Phrases

  • wet firecracker

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.