- duck
- duck1 S3 [dʌk] n[: Old English; Origin: duce]1.)a very common water bird with short legs and a wide beak, used for its meat, eggs, and soft feathers2.)a female duck→↑drake3.) [U]the meat of a duck used as food▪ roast duck with orange sauce4.) take to sth like a duck to waterto learn how to do something very easily▪ She took to dancing like a duck to water.5.) also ducksBrE spoken used to speak to someone, especially a woman, in a friendly way▪ What can I get you, ducks?6.)→↑dead duck, ↑lame duck,like water off a duck's back at ↑water1 (8), ↑ducks and drakes, ↑sitting duckduck 2duck2 v1.) also duck down [I and T]to lower your head or body very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or hit▪ If she hadn't ducked, the ball would have hit her.duck behind/under etc▪ Jamie saw his father coming and ducked quickly behind the wall.▪ Tim ducked down to comb his hair in the mirror.▪ She ducked her head to look more closely at the inscription.2.) [I always + adverb/preposition]to move somewhere very quickly, especially to avoid being seen or to get away from someoneduck into▪ The two men ducked into a block of flats and disappeared.duck out of▪ She ducked out of the door before he could stop her.duck back▪ 'Wait a minute', he called, ducking back inside.3.) [T] informalto avoid something, especially a difficult or unpleasant duty= ↑dodge▪ The ruling body wanted to duck the issue of whether players had been cheating.▪ Glazer ducked a question about his involvement in the bank scandal.4.) [T]to push someone under water for a short time as a jokeduck sb under sth▪ Tom grabbed him from behind to duck him under the surface.duck out of [duck out of sth] phr vto avoid doing something that you have to do or have promised to do▪ I always ducked out of history lessons at school.
Dictionary of contemporary English. 2013.