duck

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to move the head or body quickly downwards or away

   Before they could duck, another stone struck them.

2. 2
   noun

   a heavy piece of lead used to keep a drafting spline in place

   I moved the duck to change the arc of the line I was drawing.

3. 3
   verb

   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

4. 4
   verb

   To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.

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

5. 5
   verb

   To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.

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

6. 6
   verb

   To bow.

   The Learned pate / Duckes to the Golden Foole.

7. 7
   verb

   To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility.

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

8. 8
   verb

   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.

Etymology

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.