Dictionary Definition
dud adj : failing to detonate; especially not
charged with an active explosive; "he stepped on a dud mine"
Noun
2 an explosion that fails to occur [syn: misfire]
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" [syn: turkey, bomb]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
Ultimately from dudde (ragged clothing), of uncertain origin beyond that.Pronunciation
- dŭd, /dʌd/, /dVd/
Noun
dud (plural:'' duds)Translations
a broken or nonfunctional device that does not
perform its intended function
- Finnish: susi, suutari
- German: Blindgänger
- Russian: невзрывающийся (nevzryvájuščijsja), неисправный (neisprávnyj)
(obsolete) clothes, now always used in plural
form (duds)
Bosnian
Etymology
From dut < .Noun
dudSynonyms
Croatian
Etymology
From dut < .Noun
Serbian
Etymology
From dut < .Noun
dudCyrillic spelling
Synonyms
Extensive Definition
A Dangerous Unexploded Device (DUD) is an
ammunition round or
explosive that fails
to fire or detonate, respectively, on time or on command. Duds are
still dangerous and have to be de-activated and disposed of
carefully. Poorly designed devices (for example,
IEDs), and small devices, have higher chances of being
dud.
The variation absolute dud describes a nuclear
weapon that fails to explode. http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/jel/doddict/data/a/00004.html
Although dud rounds have failed to function as
designed, they are still dangerous, and can explode if handled. In
war-torn areas, many curious children have been injured or killed
from tampering with such devices. Dud fireworks should be destroyed
by soaking in water. No attempts to re-light them should be made.
People should keep away from dud ammunition and should call proper
authorities who can safely handle and remove it.
By extension, "dud" has become a slang word for anything that
doesn't work or is defective. There is also a
candy called Milk Duds,
named for the fact that it was impossible to get them perfectly
round.
"Duds" has also become popular slang for
clothing, as in "Hey Faris, nice duds!"
See also
dud in Hebrew: נפל תחמושת
dud in Japanese: 不発弾
dud in Polish: niewypał
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abortion, abortive attempt,
also-ran, aspirant,
baby kisser, bankrupt,
blank cartridge, bogy,
bomb, bugaboo, bugbear, bust, candidate, castrato, cipher, cry of wolf, dark horse,
defeated candidate, dummy,
eunuch, failure, false alarm, favorite
son, flop, gelding, hollow man, hopeful, impotent, incompetent, invalid, jackstraw, lame duck, lay
figure, lemon, loser, man of straw, merry chase,
miscarriage,
miscarrying,
misfire, nebbish, nobody, nonentity, nothing, nullity, office seeker,
political hopeful, presidential timber, puppet, pushover, running mate,
stalking-horse, thing of naught, trifle, vain attempt, washout, weakling, wet squib, wild-goose
chase, zero