duck

Study(21)

/dʌk/

noun 10verb 6name 4

Collocations

(noun.)

ADJ

wild

plastic, rubber

My daughter squeezed her plastic duck while splashing around in the bathtub.

roast

QUANT

flock, flotilla (only used for ducks that are swimming)

A large flock of ducks waddled across the park this morning looking for bread.

VERB + DUCK

feed

The children love to feed ducks by the river on weekends.

DUCK + VERB

quack

paddle, swim

Several ducks swam across the pond while the children watched from the bank.

bob | dive

dabble

The ducks were dabbling in the shallow water for bread crumbs.

waddle

The duck waddled across the farmyard and splashed into the pond.

nest | migrate

DUCK + NOUN

breast

The restaurant serves roasted duck breast with orange sauce and fresh vegetables.

egg | pond

Definitions

verb

To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.

As some raw youth in country bred, To arms by thirst of honour led, When at a skirmish first he hears The bullets whistling round his ears, Will duck his head aside

Rimmer ducked his body low into his chair, so just his head remained above the table top, and peered past the backs of the examinees in front of him, waiting for the adjudicator to make his move.

To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.

Adams after ducking the Squire tvvice or thrice leaped out of the Tub, […]

To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.

[…]In Tiber ducking thrice, by break of day[…]

To bow.

The Learned pate / Duckes to the Golden Foole.

To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility.

Victorian women choosing to duck the demands of domestic life to spend their time doing something they enjoyed is hardly a novel idea.

But pressed by Labour's Marsha de Cordov in the House of Commons on June 29, on "whether he plans to reduce the total number of ticket offices", Merriman ducked the question but confirmed that the Government wants to close ticket offices.

noun

A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.

noun

An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.

Matsumoto Castle exhibits the architecture of both war and peace, from its steep wooden stairs, hidden inner levels and archer’s perches to the moon-viewing room added in 1630, which also offers a vantage point for viewing the brocaded carps and ducks residing in the castle moat.

The payment processor’s layoffs and the curious incident of the duck were first reported by Business Insider.

Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.

The flesh of a duck used as food.

A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (Short for duck's egg.)

A playing card with the rank of two.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

verb — avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (

verb — dip into a liquid

Antonyms

Idioms & Phrases

duck soup

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see duck, soup.

dead duck

One who is in serious danger or trouble.

She's a dead duck if she starts flirting with my boyfriend!

like a duck takes to water

Very naturally; without effort.

Near-synonyms: smoothly, gracefully

sitting duck

An obvious, vulnerable target.

For God's sake, Sergeant, we need to get to cover – we're sitting ducks out here.

all duck or no dinner

All or nothing.

"You know," said Bob, "they'll be pushing their luck getting across the tides of the Irish Sea. It's going to be all duck or no dinner for Captain Carlsen.”

Example Bank

As some raw youth in country bred, To arms by thirst of honour led, When at a skirmish first he hears The bullets whistling round his ears, Will duck his head aside

Wiktionary

Rimmer ducked his body low into his chair, so just his head remained above the table top, and peered past the backs of the examinees in front of him, waiting for the adjudicator to make his move.

Wiktionary

Adams after ducking the Squire tvvice or thrice leaped out of the Tub, […]

Wiktionary

The payment processor’s layoffs and the curious incident of the duck were first reported by Business Insider.

Wiktionary

A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.

Wiktionary

Usage Notes

i Register

In some senses, duck is marked as figuratively, slang. Watch for register when choosing this word.

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