Duck

/dʌk/ name, noun, verb, slang

name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.
  • Grammar: duck is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: about the bush, adamite, also ran, also-ran.
  • Useful contrasts: address, answer, century.
  • Usage evidence: It's duck soup for a girl of easy virtue to find a new man.

How to use "duck"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "duck" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "duck" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "duck" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "duck" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "duck" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "about the bush" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "duck", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.
  2. 2
    An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet. countable, uncountable

    "Matsumoto Castle exhibits the architecture of both war and peace, from its steep wooden stairs, hidden inner levels and archer’s perches to the moon-viewing room added in 1630, which also offers a vantage point for viewing the brocaded carps and ducks residing in the castle moat."

  3. 3
    A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth. countable, uncountable

    "He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt."

  4. 4
    A term of endearment; pet; darling.

    "[…]and hold-faſt is the onely Dogge: My Ducke[…]"

  5. 5
    small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs wordnet
Show 17 more definitions
  1. 6
    Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    Trousers made of such material. countable, in-plural, uncountable

    "And they would go up and find old Allington, in white ducks, standing in the fringe of long grasses and cow-parsley on the other edge of the island, looking to his poultry or his rabbits."

  3. 8
    Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger). Midlands

    "Ay up duck, ow'a'tha?"

  4. 9
    a heavy cotton fabric of plain weave; used for clothing and tents wordnet
  5. 10
    The flesh of a duck used as food. uncountable
  6. 11
    flesh of a duck (domestic or wild) wordnet
  7. 12
    A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (Short for duck's egg.) countable, uncountable
  8. 13
    (cricket) a score of nothing by a batsman wordnet
  9. 14
    A playing card with the rank of two. countable, slang, uncountable
  10. 15
    Ellipsis of architectural duck; a building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable

    "A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly."

  11. 16
    A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games. countable, uncountable
  12. 17
    A cairn used to mark a trail. US, countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve. countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    Synonym of lame duck (“one who cannot fulfil their contracts”). countable, dated, slang, uncountable
  15. 20
    A long-necked medical urinal for men; a bed urinal. countable, uncountable
  16. 21
    A faggot; a meatball made from offal. UK, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable
  17. 22
    Synonym of bitch (“a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison”). US, countable, slang, uncountable

    "The more passive males are subjected to physical violence. I was subjected to being what they call a punk or a duck, which is someone else's power trip, that's all."

Verb
  1. 1
    To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something. transitive

    "As some raw youth in country bred, To arms by thirst of honour led, When at a skirmish first he hears The bullets whistling round his ears, Will duck his head aside"

  2. 2
    To surreptitiously leave a rubber duck on someone's parked Jeep as an act of kindness (see Jeep ducking). transitive

    "The couple has gotten messages from people they've ducked saying how happy it made them, and even some saying they might also start ducking."

  3. 3
    avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues) wordnet
  4. 4
    To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw. transitive

    "Adams after ducking the Squire tvvice or thrice leaped out of the Tub, […]"

  5. 5
    to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away wordnet
Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid. intransitive

    "[…]In Tiber ducking thrice, by break of day[…]"

  2. 7
    submerge or plunge suddenly wordnet
  3. 8
    To bow. intransitive

    "The Learned pate / Duckes to the Golden Foole."

  4. 9
    dip into a liquid wordnet
  5. 10
    To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility. figuratively, transitive

    "Victorian women choosing to duck the demands of domestic life to spend their time doing something they enjoyed is hardly a novel idea."

  6. 11
    To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly. transitive

    "The music is ducked under the voice."

  7. 12
    To enter a place for a short moment. colloquial, intransitive

    "I'm just going to duck into the loo for a minute; can you hold my bag?"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname transferred from the nickname.
  2. 2
    A town in North Carolina.
  3. 3
    An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
  4. 4
    Ellipsis of architectural duck abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis

Synonyms

All synonyms
about the bushadamitealso ranalso-ranangelavert

Example

"It's duck soup for a girl of easy virtue to find a new man."

Common questions

What does "duck" mean?

A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.

What is a synonym for "duck"?

Common synonyms include: about the bush, adamite, also ran, also-ran, angel, avert.

How do you use "duck" in a sentence?

It's duck soup for a girl of easy virtue to find a new man.

How do you pronounce "duck"?

Pronounced /dʌk/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English ducken, duken, douken (“to duck, plunge under water, submerge”), from Old English *dūcan (“to dip, dive, duck”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūkan, from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną (“to dip, dive, bend down, stoop, duck”). Cognates Related to Scots dulk (“to duck”), Middle Dutch ducken (“to duck”), Low German ducken (“to duck”), German ducken (“to duck”), Danish dukke, dykke (“to dive”). Related also to Scots dook, douk (“to bathe, drench, soak, baptise”), West Frisian dûke (“to plunge, dive”), Dutch duiken (“to dive, plunge, duck”), Low German duken (“to duck, dive, stoop”), German tauchen (“to dive, plunge, immerse, duck”), Swedish dyka (“to dive, submerge”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English doke, ducke, dukke, dokke, douke, duke, from Old English duce, dūce (“duck”, literally “dipper, diver, ducker”), from Old English *dūcan (“to dip, dive, duck”), from Proto-West Germanic *dūkan, from Proto-Germanic *dūkaną (“to dive, bend down”). See verb above. Cognates Cognate with Scots duik, duke, dook (“duck”), Danish dukand, dykand (“sea-duck”), Swedish dykfågel (“a diver, diving bird, plungeon”), Dutch duiker (“diving bird, loon”, literally “diver, dipper, plunger”), German Low German Düker (“diving bird, loon”, literally “diver”), German Taucher (“diving bird, loon, grebe”, literally “diver, plunger”). For the meaning development compare Russian ныро́к (nyrók, “pochard”) (< ныря́ть (nyrjátʹ, “to dive”)).

Etymology 3

From Dutch doek, from Middle Dutch doeck, doec (“linen cloth”), from Old Dutch *dōc, from Proto-West Germanic *dōk, from Proto-Germanic *dōkaz (“cloth, rag”), from Proto-Indo-European *dwōg-, *dwōk-. Cognate with German Tuch (“cloth”), Swedish duk (“cloth, canvas”), Icelandic dúkur (“cloth, fabric”). Doublet of doek.

Etymology 4

Potteries dialect, Black Country dialect and dialects of the former territory of Mercia (central England). Compare Danish dukke (“doll”), Swedish docka (“baby; doll”), dialectal English doxy (“sweetheart”).

Etymology 5

Denominal verb of duck (noun) and ellipsis of rubber duck

Etymology 6

The surname is originally a nickname from Middle English doke (“duck”). See duck.

More for "duck"

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