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Duck   /dək/   Listen
noun
Duck  n.  A pet; a darling.


Duck  n.  
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  n.  
1.
(Zool.) Any bird of the subfamily Anatinae, family Anatidae. Note: 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."
Bombay duck (Zool.), a fish. See Bummalo.
Buffel duck, Spirit duck. See Buffel duck.
Duck ant (Zool.), a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees.
Duck barnacle. (Zool.) See Goose barnacle.
Duck hawk. (Zool.)
(a)
In the United States: The peregrine falcon.
(b)
In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard.
Duck mole (Zool.), a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole.
To make ducks and drakes, to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets; hence:
To play at ducks and drakes, with property, to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably.
Lame duck. See under Lame.


verb
Duck  v. t.  (past & past part. ducked; pres. part. ducking)  
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."
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."


Duck  v. i.  
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."
2.
To drop the head or person suddenly; to bow. "The learned pate Ducks to the golden fool."





Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48


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"Duck" Quotes from Famous Books



... When that door opens I get up. See? And shoot straight for the old man's office. See? Like a duck. See? Say, I may be fat, kid, but I'm what they call light on my feet, and when I see an order getting away from me I can be so fleet that I have Diana looking like old Weston doing a stretch of muddy country road in a coast ...
— Roast Beef, Medium • Edna Ferber
... piece of silken cloth, one becomes a Krikara. By stealing a piece of cloth made of red silk, one becomes a Vartaka.[515] By stealing a piece of muslin one becomes a parrot. By stealing a piece of cloth that is of fine texture, one becomes a duck after casting off one's human body. By stealing a piece of cloth made of cotton, one becomes a crane. By stealing a piece of cloth made of jute, one becomes a sheep in one's next life. By stealing a piece of linen, one has to take birth as a hare. By stealing ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 4 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... "Don't let 'em know a thing until we've got 'em covered! If we surprise 'em just right, who knows but the whole infernal mob may duck and run? Don't shoot till you have ...
— Darkness and Dawn • George Allan England
... She was out of the hammock now and poised tremblingly before him, like a bird. "Honestly? You're not fooling? Norvin, you dear duck!" She clapped her hands together gleefully and began to dance up and down. "I-I'm ...
— The Net • Rex Beach
... United States road leading from Vincennes to the Indian boundary line, established by the treaty of Greenville, strikes the said line, to the North Bend, in the State of Ohio (January 8, 1812, p. 367). The ninth for repairing and keeping in repair the road between Columbia, on Duck River, in Tennessee, and Madisonville, in Louisiana, and also the road between Fort Hawkins, in Georgia, and Fort Stoddard (April 27, 1816, p. 104 of the acts of that year). The tenth from the Shawneetown, on the Ohio River, to the Sabine, and to Kaskaskias, ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 1 (of 3) of Volume 2: James Monroe • James D. Richardson


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