From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcanardca‧nard /kæˈnɑːd $ kəˈnɑːrd/ noun [countable] written LIE/TELL A LIEa piece of news that is false and is told to people deliberately in order to harm someone
Examples from the Corpus
canard• In other words, the whole idea of globalization was a canard.• A canard of anti-Semitism is that there is a secret group of powerful Jews running the country.• The initial findings lay to rest a few canards.• The Opposition raised the canard that some sort of register is required under the council tax.• It is hardly necessary to dignify that vile canard by saying there is not a mote of truth to it.Origin canard (1800-1900) French vendre des canards à moitié “to half-sell ducks, cheat” 