ca·nard  (k -närd )
n.
1. An unfounded or false, deliberately misleading story.
2.
a. A short winglike control surface projecting from the fuselage of an aircraft, such as a space shuttle, mounted forward of the main wing and serving as a horizontal stabilizer.
b. An aircraft whose horizontal stabilizing surfaces are forward of the main wing.
[French, duck, canard, probably from the phrase vendre un canard à moitié, to sell half a duck, to swindle, from Old French quanart, duck, from caner, to cackle, of imitative origin.]
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
I suspect that Isabella may be like Auntie Mary in that she cannot tell a canard even when she wants to: her face gets too red and gives her away.
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