duck Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
  2. noun (cricket) a score of nothing by a batsman
    duck's egg.
  3. noun flesh of a duck (domestic or wild)
  4. noun a heavy cotton fabric of plain weave; used for clothing and tents
  5. verb to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away
    • Before he could duck, another stone struck him
  6. verb submerge or plunge suddenly
  7. verb dip into a liquid
    dip; douse.
    • He dipped into the pool
  8. verb avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
    dodge; fudge; sidestep; evade; parry; elude; skirt; hedge; circumvent; put off.
    • He dodged the issue
    • she skirted the problem
    • They tend to evade their responsibilities
    • he evaded the questions skillfully

WordNet

Duck noun
Etymology
Cf. Dan. dukke, Sw. docka, OHG. doccha, G. docke. Cf. Doxy.
Definitions
  1. A pet; a darling. Shak.
Duck noun
Etymology
D. doek cloth, canvas, or Icel. dkr cloth; akin to OHG. tuoh, G. tuch, Sw. duk, Dan. dug.
Definitions
  1. A linen (or sometimes cotton) fabric, finer and lighter than canvas, -- used for the lighter sails of vessels, the sacking of beds, and sometimes for men's clothing.
  2. (Naut.) pl. The light clothes worn by sailors in hot climates. Colloq.
Duck transitive verb
Etymology
OE. duken, douken, to dive; akin to D. duiken, OHG. thhan, MHG. tucken, tücken, tchen, G. tuchen. Cf. 5th Duck.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Ducked ; present participle & verbal noun Ducking
Definitions
  1. To thrust or plunge under water or other liquid and suddenly withdraw.
    Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub. Fielding.
  2. To plunge the head of under water, immediately withdrawing it; as, duck the boy.
  3. To bow; to bob down; to move quickly with a downward motion. " Will duck his head aside. Swift.
Duck intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to dive; to plunge the head in water or other liquid; to dip.
    In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day. Dryden.
  2. To drop the head or person suddenly; to bow.
    The learned pate Ducks to the golden fool. Shak.
Duck noun
Etymology
OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t.
Definitions
  1. (Zool.) Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ. ✍ The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck (Anas boschas); the wood duck (Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China (Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America (Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc.
  2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water.
    Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod. Milton.

Webster 1913