duct

American  

[duhkt] / dʌkt /

noun

• ducts
  plural

1. any tube, canal, pipe, or conduit by which a fluid, air, or other substance is conducted or conveyed.

2. Anatomy, Zoology. a tube, canal, or vessel conveying a body fluid, especially a glandular secretion or excretion.

3. Botany. a cavity or vessel formed by elongated cells or by many cells.

4. Electricity. a single enclosed runway for conductors or cables.

5. Printing. (in a press) the reservoir for ink.

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verb (used with object)

1. to convey or channel by means of a duct or ducts.

   Heat from the oven is ducted to the outside.

duct British  

/ dʌkt /

noun

1. a tube, pipe, or canal by means of which a substance, esp a fluid or gas, is conveyed

2. any bodily passage, esp one conveying secretions or excretions

3. a narrow tubular cavity in plants, often containing resin or some other substance

4. Also called: conduit.  a channel or pipe carrying electric cable or wires

5. a passage through which air can flow, as in air conditioning

6. the ink reservoir in a printing press

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duct Scientific  

/ dŭkt /

1. A tube or tubelike structure through which something flows, especially a tube in the body for carrying a fluid secreted that is by a gland.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• ductless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• ducts
  plural

Etymology

Origin of duct

First recorded in 1640–50; from Latin ductus “conveyance (of water),” hence “channel” (in Medieval Latin ), equivalent to duc- (variant stem of dūcere “to lead”) + -tus suffix of verbal action

Explanation

A duct is a pipe, tube, or tunnel through which water can flow. If there's a leaking duct in your kitchen, you may need to patch it or replace it — in any event, you should probably call a plumber. Liquids can move through a duct, and when the duct is in a person's body, like a tear duct or a pancreatic duct, it has the same purpose — tears, for example, flow through tear ducts. Some ducts aid the flow of substances other than liquids, like the air ducts that blow warm air from your furnace into the rooms of your house. Duct tape, often incorrectly called "duck tape," is tape that's used for repairing ducts.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

duct ducts

I had to use the trunk opener inside the glove compartment, which, of course, had been jimmied open, and I kept closed with duct tape.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Towle's family announced her death, from complications related to bile duct cancer that had spread to other parts of her body, on her social media accounts on Thursday.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

Castro said he had sealed windows at his home with duct tape and filled up extra water containers.

From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026

No deaths linked to severe liver injury, including vanishing bile duct syndrome, have been reported among the 8,000 or so people who have been treated with avacopan in the U.S.,

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026

I sort of enjoyed the project—the whiz of slicing plastic, the scream of duct tape coming off the roll, the big speckled rectangles I fit snugly over the door and window.

From "Anthem of a Reluctant Prophet" by Joanne Proulx

Some cases involved vanishing bile duct syndrome, a liver condition characterized by the progressive destruction of bile ducts in the liver, the agency said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

When F. nucleatum was introduced directly into breast ducts, it caused metaplastic and hyperplastic lesions, noncancerous changes where cells either grow excessively or shift into a different type.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 19, 2026

The same is true for keeping air ducts clean.

From MarketWatch ● Feb. 28, 2026

In their attempt to find a cozy place to rest, bears can destroy insulation, wiring, heating ducts and water and gas lines as they tear into crawl spaces.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026

God, I wish I could seal up my tear ducts just so I could stop letting my mother hear me crying.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Related Words

• conduit
• tube