duct
[duhkt]
- any tube, canal, pipe, or conduit by which a fluid, air, or other substance is conducted or conveyed.
- Anatomy, Zoology. a tube, canal, or vessel conveying a body fluid, especially a glandular secretion or excretion.
- Botany. a cavity or vessel formed by elongated cells or by many cells.
- Electricity. a single enclosed runway for conductors or cables.
- Printing. (in a press) the reservoir for ink.
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- to convey or channel by means of a duct or ducts: Heat from the oven is ducted to the outside.
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Origin of duct
1640–50; < Latin ductus conveyance (of water), hence channel (in ML), equivalent to duc- (variant stem of dūcere to lead) + -tus suffix of verbal action
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for duct
Contemporary Examples
With a bit of luck and duct tape, I thought we might put together enough votes to avoid a runoff.
The windows were sealed shut around the edges by duct tape but still rattled when it got windy.
He binds the little flyer with black plastic ties and seals her mouth with duct tape.
The Stacks: The Searing Story of How Murder Stalked a Tiny New York TownE. Jean Carroll
April 19, 2014
Nobody was allowed in his room, where the windows were covered with black garbage bags secured with duct tape.
The large roll of duct tape was still attached and found next to her head by firefighters.
Autopsies on Hannah Anderson’s Family Bring Police No Closer to a MotiveChristine Pelisek
September 24, 2013
Historical Examples
Into this duct the ranks of cells around it pour out the peptic juice.
A Handbook of HealthWoods Hutchinson
I heard a muffled clank; then a hum began, echoing up the duct.
GreylornJohn Keith Laumer
I reached the top of the duct and pushed against the slot cover.
GreylornJohn Keith Laumer
And there was that hazard here, for every duct looked like every other one.
Gold in the SkyAlan Edward Nourse
The operator then carefully examines the duct preparatory to cutting it.
Fur Farming For ProfitHermon Basil Laymon
duct
- a tube, pipe, or canal by means of which a substance, esp a fluid or gas, is conveyed
- any bodily passage, esp one conveying secretions or excretions
- a narrow tubular cavity in plants, often containing resin or some other substance
- Also called: conduit a channel or pipe carrying electric cable or wires
- a passage through which air can flow, as in air conditioning
- the ink reservoir in a printing press
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin ductus a leading (in Medieval Latin: aqueduct), from dūcere to lead
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 duct
n.
1640s, "course, direction," from Latin ductus "a leading," past participle of ducere "to lead" (see duke (n.)). Anatomical sense is from 1660s. Meaning "conduit, channel" is 1713; that of "air tube in a structure" is from 1884.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
duct
(dŭkt)- A tubular bodily canal or passage, especially one for carrying a glandular secretion such as bile.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
duct
[dŭkt]
- 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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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.