English Explanatory Dictionary

duck

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb
  1. To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
  2. To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
  3. To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
  4. To bow.
  5. To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility.
  6. To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
  7. To enter a place for a short moment.
noun
  1. A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.
noun
  1. Any of certain aquatic birds of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet, distinguished from swans and geese by generally being smaller and shorter-necked.
  2. Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.
  3. The flesh of a duck used as food.
  4. A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (Short for duck's egg.)
  5. A playing card with the rank of two.
  6. Ellipsis of architectural duck; a building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
  7. A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
  8. A cairn used to mark a trail.
  9. One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve.
  10. Synonym of lame duck (“one who cannot fulfil their contracts”).
  11. A long-necked medical urinal for men; a bed urinal.
  12. A faggot; a meatball made from offal.
noun
  1. A tightly-woven cotton or linen fabric, often used as sailcloth.
  2. Trousers made of such material.
noun
  1. A term of endearment; pet; darling.
  2. Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
verb
  1. To surreptitiously leave a rubber duck on someone's parked Jeep as an act of kindness (see Jeep ducking).
name
  1. A surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. A town in North Carolina.
  3. An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
  4. Ellipsis of architectural duck

Pronunciation

dŭk /dʌk/ en-us-duck.ogg EN-AU ck1 duck.ogg /dʊk/

Word forms

duck ducks ducking ducked ducke dook doock

Etymology

From Middle English ducken, duken, douken (“to duck, plunge under water, submerge”), from Old English *dūcan (“to dip, dive, duck”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūkan, from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną (“to dip, dive, bend down, stoop, duck”). Cognates Related to Scots dulk (“to duck”), Middle Dutch ducken (“to duck”), Low German ducken (“to duck”), German ducken (“to duck”), Danish dukke, dykke (“to dive”). Related also to Scots dook, douk (“to bathe, drench, soak, baptise”), West Frisian dûke (“to plunge, dive”), Dutch duiken (“to dive, plunge, duck”), Low German duken (“to duck, dive, stoop”), German tauchen (“to dive, plunge, immerse, duck”), Swedish dyka (“to dive, submerge”).

Synonyms

duck down dip dunk duckess duckflesh duckmeat duck building lame duck bitch duckcloth sailduck friend

Related words

anatine drake goose quack swan waterfowl deech

Derived words

beduck duckable duck and cover duck down ducker duck off duck out unducked duck and dive duckroll all duck or no dinner American black duck antiduck architectural duck aromatic duck baby duck syndrome Beijing duck Black Duck black-headed duck blue-billed duck blue duck Bombay duck box of fluffy ducks Brahminy duck break one's duck buffel duck Burdekin duck burrow duck can a duck can a duck swim Carolina duck chance the ducks chuckey cold duck could eat the arse out of a low flying duck could eat the crotch out of a low flying duck could eat the crutch from a low flying duck crocoduck crutches for lame ducks dabbling duck Daffy Duck Daffy Duck offense dead duck decoy-duck demon duck of doom diamond duck diving duck divvy duck domestic duck Donald Duck don't teach your grandmother how to milk ducks duck ague duck ant duck architecture duck arsed duck-arsed duck-bill duckbill duckbilled duck-billed
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