duck

/dək/

/dək/

Other forms: ducks; ducked; ducking

A duck is a bird that spends much of its life on or near water. You can sometimes see whole families of ducks paddling across lakes and ponds.

Ducks can be wild or domesticated — if you keep ducks in your yard, you'll need to provide them with at least a small body of water. When the word duck is a verb, it means "to bow or dip suddenly," like when your kite plunges suddenly and you duck to avoid getting hit in the head. You can duck figuratively, too: "Don't you dare duck out of helping me clean up after the party!"

Definitions of duck

1. noun

   small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
   types:

   drake

   adult male of a wild or domestic duck

   quack-quack

   child's word for a duck

   duckling

   young duck

   diving duck

   any of various ducks of especially bays and estuaries that dive for their food

   dabbler, dabbling duck

   any of numerous shallow-water ducks that feed by upending and dabbling

   Anas platyrhynchos, mallard

   wild dabbling duck from which domestic ducks are descended; widely distributed

   Anas rubripes, black duck

   a dusky duck of northeastern United States and Canada

   teal

   any of various small short-necked dabbling river ducks of Europe and America

   Anas penelope, widgeon, wigeon

   freshwater duck of Eurasia and northern Africa related to mallards and teals

   Anas clypeata, broadbill, shoveler, shoveller

   freshwater duck of the northern hemisphere having a broad flat bill

   Anas acuta, pin-tailed duck, pintail

   long-necked river duck of the Old and New Worlds having elongated central tail feathers

   sheldrake

   Old World gooselike duck slightly larger than a mallard with variegated mostly black-and-white plumage and a red bill

   Oxyura jamaicensis, ruddy duck

   reddish-brown stiff-tailed duck of North America and northern South America

   Bucephela albeola, bufflehead, butterball, dipper

   small North American diving duck; males have bushy head plumage

   Bucephela clangula, goldeneye, whistler

   large-headed swift-flying diving duck of Arctic regions

   Aythya valisineria, canvasback, canvasback duck

   North American wild duck valued for sport and food

   Aythya ferina, pochard

   heavy-bodied Old World diving duck having a grey-and-black body and reddish head

   Aythya americana, redhead

   North American diving duck with a grey-and-black body and reddish-brown head

   bluebill, broadbill, scaup, scaup duck

   diving ducks of North America having a bluish-grey bill

   wild duck

   an undomesticated duck (especially a mallard)

   Aix sponsa, summer duck, wood duck, wood widgeon

   showy North American duck that nests in hollow trees

   Aix galericulata, mandarin duck

   showy crested Asiatic duck; often domesticated

   Cairina moschata, muscovy duck, musk duck

   large crested wild duck of Central America and South America; widely domesticated

   sea duck

   any of various large diving ducks found along the seacoast: eider; scoter; merganser

   Anas crecca, green-winged teal, greenwing

   common teal of Eurasia and North America

   Anas discors, blue-winged teal, bluewing

   American teal

   Anas querquedula, garganey

   small Eurasian teal

   American widgeon, Anas americana, baldpate

   a widgeon the male of which has a white crown

   shelduck

   female sheldrake

   Barrow's goldeneye, Bucephala islandica

   North American goldeneye diving duck

   Aythya marila, greater scaup

   large scaup of North America having a greenish iridescence on the head of the male

   Aythya affinis, lake duck, lesser scaup, lesser scaup duck

   common scaup of North America; males have purplish heads

   wood drake

   male wood duck

   eider, eider duck

   duck of the northern hemisphere much valued for the fine soft down of the females

   scooter, scoter

   large black diving duck of northern parts of the northern hemisphere

   Clangula hyemalis, old squaw, oldwife

   a common long-tailed sea duck of the northern parts of the United States

   fish duck, merganser, sawbill, sheldrake

   large crested fish-eating diving duck having a slender hooked bill with serrated edges

   type of:

   anseriform bird

   chiefly web-footed swimming birds
2. noun

   flesh of a duck (domestic or wild)
   types:

   duckling

   flesh of a young domestic duck

   type of:

   poultry

   flesh of chickens or turkeys or ducks or geese raised for food
3. verb

   submerge or plunge suddenly
   type of:

   dive, plunge, plunk

   drop steeply
4. verb

   dip into a liquid
   synonyms: dip, douse

   type of:

   dip, douse, dunk, plunge, souse

   immerse briefly into a liquid so as to wet, coat, or saturate
5. verb

   to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away
   “Before he could duck, another stone struck him”

   type of:

   move

   move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
6. verb

   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

   types:

   beg, beg the question

   dodge, avoid answering, or take for granted

   quibble

   evade the truth of a point or question by raising irrelevant objections

   type of:

   avoid

   stay clear from; keep away from; keep out of the way of someone or something
7. noun

   a heavy cotton fabric of plain weave; used for clothing and tents
   type of:

   cloth, fabric, material, textile

   artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
8. noun

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

   type of:

   score

   a number that expresses the accomplishment of a team or an individual in a game or contest