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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



... brushes; and the good housewives of those days were a kind of amphibious animal, delighting exceedingly to be dabbling in water, insomuch that an historian of the day gravely tells us that many of his townswomen grew to have webbed fingers like unto a duck; but this I look upon to be a mere sport of fancy, or, what is worse, ...
— Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8 • Charles H. Sylvester
... my eye I could see Izzy Baermann, and he wasn't looking happy. He was nerving himself for one of those quick referee's decisions—the sort you make and then duck under the ropes, and run five miles, to avoid the incensed populace. It was this kind of thing happening every now and then that prevented his job being perfect. Mabel Francis told me that one night when Izzy declared her the winner of the great sporting contest, ...
— The Man with Two Left Feet - and Other Stories • P. G. Wodehouse
... in the track of Pierson," said that officer, masking his retreat from the position with a duck of his head and a smile, ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... half the height of the body, when it was again horizontal for awhile, once more curving upwards at the end. It usually terminated in an ornament, which was sometimes the head of an animal—a bull, a horse, or a duck—sometimes a more elaborate and complicated work of art. [PLATE XC., Fig. 3.] Now and then the pole continued level with the bottom of the body till it had reached its full projection, and then rose suddenly to the height ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2. (of 7): Assyria • George Rawlinson
... smiling. "That especial frock shan't appear again while I'm down here. But it's a duck of a frock, really, Roger!"—with a feminine sigh ...
— The Moon out of Reach • Margaret Pedler


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