Duck

Pronunciation ,

• enPR: dÅ­k, IPA: /dÊŒk/
• Rhymes: -ÊŒk

From Middle English *dukken, from Old English *ducan, *duccan ("to duck"), 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"); a secondary verb akin to Middle English duken, douken ("to duck, plunge under water, submerge"), from Old English *dūcan ("to dip, dive, duck"), from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną ("to dip, dive, bend down, stoop, duck"), probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- ("deep, hollow") (whence Proto-Germanic *dūbaną ("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").

Full definition of duck

Verb

1. (intransitive) To lower the head or body in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
2. (transitive) To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
• FieldingAdams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.
3. (intransitive) To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
• DrydenIn Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.
4. (transitive) To lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
5. (intransitive) To bow.
• ShakespeareThe learned pate
  Ducks to the golden fool.
6. (transitive) To evade doing something.
7. (transitive) To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
• 2007, Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects (page 183)The music is ducked under the voice.

Synonyms

• (to lower the head) duck down
• (to lower into the water) dip, dunk
• (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something) dip

Derived terms

• duck and cover
• duck out

From Middle English ducke, dukke, doke, dokke, douke, duke, from Old English duce, dūce ("duck", literally dipper, diver, ducker), from Old English *dūcan ("to dip, dive, duck"), from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną ("to dive, bend down"). See verb above. Cognate with Scots duik, duke, dook ("duck"), Danish dukand, dykand ("sea-duck"), Swedish dykfågel ("a diver, diving bird, plungeon"), Middle Dutch duycker ("diver"), Low German düker ("diver").

Noun

1. An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
2. Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.
3. (uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
4. (cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
5. A term of endearment; pet; darling.And hold-fast is the only dog, my duck (William Shakespeare - The Life of King Henry the Fifth, Act 2, Scene 3).
6. (British, chiefly East of the Pennines) Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).Ay up duck, ow'a'tha?
7. (slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
8. A partly-flooded cave passage with limited air space.
9. A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
• 2007, Cynthia Blair, "It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck," Newsday, 21 Feb.:The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck’.
10. A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.

Hyponyms

• (bird) Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duck

Derived terms

From Dutch doek, from Middle Dutch doeck, doec ("linen cloth"), from Old Dutch *dōc, from Proto-Germanic *dōkaz ("cloth, rag"), from Proto-Indo-European *dwōg-, *dwōk-. Cognate with German Tuch ("cloth"), Swedish duk ("cloth, canvas"), Icelandic dúkur ("cloth, fabric").

Alternative forms

• dook, doock Scotland

Noun

1. A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
• 1912, Katherine Mansfield, "The Woman At The Store", from Selected Short Stories:He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt.