duck

[duhk]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR duck ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used without object)

to stoop or bend suddenly; bob.

to avoid or evade a blow, unpleasant task, etc.; dodge.

to plunge the whole body or the head momentarily under water.

Cards Informal. to play a card lower than the card led.

verb (used with object)

to lower suddenly: Duck your head going through that low doorway.

to avoid or evade (a blow, unpleasant task, etc.); dodge: to duck a hard right; to duck an embarrassing question.

to plunge or dip in water momentarily.

Cards Informal. to play a card lower than (the card led).

noun

an act or instance of ducking.

Origin of duck

1250–1300; Middle English duken, douken; cognate with German tauchen to dive, ducken to duck

Synonyms for duck

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR duck ON THESAURUS.COM

1. bow, dodge. 3. dive, dip, souse.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for ducked

dodge, crouch, dive, sidestep, evade, bow, elude, bend, escape, shun, lower, plunge, fence, shy, lurch, parry, stoop, submerge, double, shirk

Examples from the Web for ducked

Contemporary Examples of ducked

We huddled under the covers and drank and ate and then ducked out in the dark to brush our teeth.
A Little Too Off the Beaten Path in Burma
Katya Cengel
June 2, 2014
When he reached me at that gathering, he ducked a question about his role by declaring: “What is important is historical truth.”
Poland’s Warmed-Over Cold Warrior
Andrew Nagorski
May 29, 2014
As she ducked out of the Sheraton fundraiser, she met a group of women coming at her on the up escalator.
How the Left Cut Down a Democratic Frontrunner
David Freedlander
May 12, 2014
The two young brothers, aged six and seven, described how they ducked down in the back seat when the bullets started to fly.
The Little Boy Mowed Down By The Mafia
Barbie Latza Nadeau
March 20, 2014
A woman who was sitting with the father would later tell police that she ducked down and covered her ears as he returned fire.
Montana’s Real-Life Walter White
Michael Daly
December 20, 2013

Historical Examples of ducked

The Road-Runner ducked once or twice by way of refreshing his memory.
The Trail Book
Mary Austin
He ducked instinctively, striking upward with his cutlass as he did so.
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle
He appears to think that so distinguished a criminal should have been ducked in a tank of rosewater.
The Devil's Dictionary
Ambrose Bierce
He ducked and peered into her face again, and again his face sobered.
Good Indian
B. M. Bower
Get out of the house, you puppy; or I'll have the servants up, and have you ducked in the horse-pond.'
Wilfrid Cumbermede
George MacDonald

British Dictionary definitions for ducked

duck

noun plural ducks or duck

any of various small aquatic birds of the family Anatidae, typically having short legs, webbed feet, and a broad blunt bill: order Anseriformes

the flesh of this bird, used as food

the female of such a bird, as opposed to the male (drake)

any other bird of the family Anatidae, including geese, and swans

Also: ducks British informal dear or darling: used as a term of endearment or of general addressSee also ducky

informal a person, esp one regarded as odd or endearing

cricket a score of nothing by a batsman

like water off a duck's back informal without effect

take to something like a duck to water informal to become adept at or attracted to something very quickly

Word Origin for duck

Old English dūce duck, diver; related to duck ²

duck

verb

to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away, esp so as to escape observation or evade a blow

to submerge or plunge suddenly and often briefly under water

(when intr, often foll by out) informal to dodge or escape (a person, duty, etc)

(intr) bridge to play a low card when possessing a higher one rather than try to win a trick

noun

the act or an instance of ducking

Derived Formsducker, noun

Word Origin for duck

C14: related to Old High German tūhhan to dive, Middle Dutch dūken

duck

noun

a heavy cotton fabric of plain weave, used for clothing, tents, etcSee also ducks

Word Origin for duck

C17: from Middle Dutch doek; related to Old High German tuoh cloth

duck

⁴

noun

an amphibious vehicle used in World War II

Word Origin for duck

C20: from code name DUKW

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ducked

duck

n.1

waterfowl, Old English duce (found only in genitive ducan) "a duck," literally "a ducker," presumed to be from Old English *ducan "to duck, dive" (see duck (v.)). Replaced Old English ened as the name for the bird, this being from PIE *aneti-, the root of the "duck" noun in most Indo-European languages.

In the domestic state the females greatly exceed in number, hence duck serves at once as the name of the female and of the race, drake being a specific term of sex. [OED]

As a term of endearment, attested from 1580s. duck-walk is 1930s; duck soup "anything easily done" is by 1899. Duck's ass haircut is from 1951. Ducks-and-drakes, skipping flat stones on water, is from 1580s; the figurative sense of "throwing something away recklessly" is c.1600.

duck

n.2

"strong, untwilled linen (later cotton) fabric," used for sails and sailors' clothing, 1630s, from Dutch doeck "linen cloth" (Middle Dutch doec), related to German Tuch "piece of cloth," Danish dug, Old Frisian dok, Old High German tuoh, all of unknown origin.

duck

"to plunge into" (transitive), c.1300; to suddenly go under water (intransitive), mid-14c., from presumed Old English *ducan "to duck," found only in derivative duce (n.) "duck" (but there are cognate words in other Germanic languages, e.g. Old High German tuhhan "to dip," German tauchen "to dive," Old Frisian duka, Middle Dutch duken "to dip, dive," Dutch duiken), from Proto-Germanic *dukjan.

Sense of "bend, stoop quickly" is first recorded in English 1520s. Related: Ducked; ducking. The noun is attested from 1550s in the sense of "quick stoop;" meaning "a plunge, dip" is from 1843.

Idioms and Phrases with ducked

duck

In addition to the idioms beginning with duck

duck out
duck soup

also see:

dead duck
get one's ducks in a row
lame duck
like water off a duck's back
sitting duck
take to (like a duck to water)
ugly duckling