DUCK • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Duck

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Duck

noun

1.

Small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs.

2.

(cricket) a score of nothing by a batsman. Synonym: duck's egg.

3.

Flesh of a duck (domestic or wild).

4.

A heavy cotton fabric of plain weave; used for clothing and tents.

verb

(past & past part. ducked; pres. part. ducking)

1.

To move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away.

2.

Submerge or plunge suddenly.

3.

Dip into a liquid. Synonyms: dip, douse.

4.

Avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues). Synonyms: circumvent, dodge, elude, evade, fudge, hedge, parry, put off, sidestep, skirt. "She skirted the problem" , "They tend to evade their responsibilities" , "He evaded the questions skillfully"

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Etymology of 'Duck'

Related searches:

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duck-billed platypus

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pin-tailed duck

WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University

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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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