duck

Etymology 1

From Middle English *dukken, from Old English *ducan, *duccan (“to duck”); a secondary verb akin to Middle English 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”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewb- (“deep, hollow”) (whence Proto-Germanic *dūbaną (“to dive”)). 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”).

verb

1. (intransitive) To quickly lower the head or body, often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
   Duck! There's a branch falling off the tree!
2. (transitive) To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
   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 c. 1729, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Delany on the Libels Written Against Him
   Rimmer ducked his body low into his chair, so just his head remained above the table top, and peered past the backs of the examinees in front of him, waiting for the adjudicator to make his move. 1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers
3. (transitive) To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
4. (intransitive) To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
5. (intransitive) To bow.
6. (transitive) To evade doing something.
   Victorian women choosing to duck the demands of domestic life to spend their time doing something they enjoyed is hardly a novel idea. 2018-07-21, Kathryn Hughes, “The strange cult of Emily Brontë and the 'hot mess' of Wuthering Heights”, in The Guardian
   But pressed by Labour's Marsha de Cordov in the House of Commons on June 29, on "whether he plans to reduce the total number of ticket offices", Merriman ducked the question but confirmed that the Government wants to close ticket offices. July 12 2023, Mel Holley, “Network News: RDG presses ahead with ticket office closure plan”, in RAIL, number 987, page 7
7. (transitive) To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
   The music is ducked under the voice. 2007, Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects, page 183
8. (intransitive) To enter a place for a short moment.
   I'm just going to duck into the loo for a minute, can you hold my bag?

noun

1. (caving) A cave passage containing water with low, or no, airspace.

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”), Middle Dutch duycker (“diver”), Low German düker (“diver”).

noun

1. An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
2. Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.
3. (uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
4. (cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
5. (slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
6. A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
   A luncheonette in the shape of a coffee cup is particularly conspicuous, as is intended of an architectural duck or folly.
   The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck’. 21 Feb 2007, Cynthia Blair, “It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck”, in Newsday
7. A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
8. (US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
9. One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve.
10. (finance, slang, dated) Synonym of lame duck (“one who cannot fulfil their contracts”)
11. (medicine) A long-necked medical urinal for men.
12. (UK, slang, obsolete) A faggot; a meatball made from offal.

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.

noun

1. A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
   He was dressed in a Jaeger vest—a pair of blue duck trousers, fastened round the waist with a plaited leather belt. 1912, Katherine Mansfield, “The Woman At The Store”, in Selected Short Stories
2. (in the plural) Trousers made of such material.
   A native servant emerged, anonymous in his white ducks and red fez, to say My Player was wanted on the telephone. 1954, Doris Lessing, A Proper Marriage, HarperPerennial, published 1995, page 74

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”).

noun

1. A term of endearment; pet; darling.
2. (Midlands) Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
   Ay up duck, ow'a'tha?