CS Knowledge Base

• enPR: dŭk, IPA^(key): /dʌk/

  • Audio (US):

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  • Audio (Australia):

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• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /dʊk/
• Rhymes: -ʌk

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”).

duck (third-person singular simple present ducks, present participle ducking, simple past and past participle ducked)

1. (transitive) To quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
   • c. 1729, Jonathan Swift, To Dr. Delany on the Libels Written Against Him:

     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

   • 1989, Grant Naylor, Red Dwarf: Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers:

     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.

2. (transitive) To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
   • 1742, Henry Fielding, “A Scene of Roasting Very Nicely Adapted to the Present Taste and Times”, in The History of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of His Friend Mr. Abraham Adams. […], volume II, London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book III, page 122:

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

3. (intransitive) To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
   • 1693, Aulus Persius Flaccus, John Dryden, transl., “[The Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus.] The Satyr”, in The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis. Translated into English Verse. […] Together with the Satires of Aulus Persius Flaccus. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson […], →OCLC, page 22:

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

4. (intransitive) To bow.
   • c. 1605–1608 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Tymon of Athens”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iii], page 90, column 2:

     The Learned pate / Duckes to the Golden Foole.

5. (transitive, figurative) To evade doing something, especially something considered a responsibility.
   • 2018 July 21, Kathryn Hughes, “The strange cult of Emily Brontë and the 'hot mess' of Wuthering Heights”, in The Guardian‎^[1], archived from the original on 13 October 2026:

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

   • 2023 July 12, Mel Holley, “Network News: RDG presses ahead with ticket office closure plan”, in RAIL, number 987, page 7:

     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.

   • 2024 January 19, Jonathan Freedland, “There is still a way to stop Donald Trump – but time is running out”, in The Guardian‎^[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 13 October 2026:

     That was the moment, but Senate Republicans ducked it.

6. (transitive) To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
   • 2007, Alexander U. Case, Sound FX: unlocking the creative potential of recording studio effects, page 183:

     The music is ducked under the voice.

7. (intransitive, colloquial) 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?

• (to lower the head): duck down
• (to lower into the water): dip, dunk
• (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something): dip

• (to lower the head or body to prevent it from being struck): hit the deck

duck (plural ducks)

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

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.

For the meaning development compare Russian ныро́к (nyrók, “pochard”) (< ныря́ть (nyrjátʹ, “to dive”)).

• ducke (obsolete)

duck (countable and uncountable, plural ducks or duck)

1. Any of certain aquatic birds of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet, distinguished from swans and geese by generally being smaller and shorter-necked.

   Hyponyms: drake, duckling

   • 2023 May 18, David McElhenney, “13 of Japan’s best castles”, in CNN‎^[3], archived from the original on 19 August 2025:

     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.

   • 2025 January 23, John Towfighi, “Stripe accidentally sends image of cartoon duck to laid-off employees”, in CNN‎^[4], archived from the original on 23 July 2025:

     The payment processor’s layoffs and the curious incident of the duck were first reported by Business Insider.

2. Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.

   Synonym: (rare) duckess

4. (uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.

   Synonyms: duckflesh, duckmeat

5. (cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (Short for duck's egg.)
   • 1961, Tom Mead, Killers of Eden, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 155:

     ‘How do you like your duck, Harris?’ one raucous voice yelled.

6. (slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
7. Ellipsis of architectural duck; a building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.

   Synonym: duck building

   Coordinate term: duck architecture

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

   • 2007 February 21, Cynthia Blair, “It Happened on Long Island: 1988—Suffolk County Adopts the Big Duck”, in Newsday:

     The Big Duck has influenced the world of architecture; any building that is shaped like its product is called a ‘duck’.

   • 2017 July 8, Syed, Sabrina, ArchDaily‎^[5], archived from the original on 6 October 2026:

     Love them or hate them, ducks have a light-hearted presence in our architectural history.

   • 2019 June 10, Gotthardt, Alexxa, “The Quirky, Endearing Tradition of “Duck” Architecture”, in artsy.net‎^[6], archived from the original on 6 October 2026:

     Today, “ducks” continue to crop up across America and beyond, but they are no longer relegated to strips and roadsides alone; in many cases, they’ve entered the tight-knit landscape of cities ...

   • 2025 September 30, Duck Duck Shed‎^[7], archived from the original on 15 April 2026:

     In Las Vegas, Ducks thrive because resorts often transform themselves into oversized symbols of the fantasy they promise.

8. A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
9. (US) A cairn used to mark a trail.
10. One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve.
11. (finance, slang, dated) Synonym of lame duck (“one who cannot fulfil their contracts”).
12. (medicine) A long-necked medical urinal for men; a bed urinal.
13. (UK, slang, obsolete) A faggot; a meatball made from offal.
14. (US, LGBTQ, prison slang) Synonym of bitch (“a man forced or coerced into a homosexual relationship, especially in prison”).
    • 1986 April 19, Michael Rathbone, “Tell Someone”, in Gay Community News, page 4:

      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.

• Sranan Tongo: doksi (from the plural)
  • → Dutch: doks

• Weisenberg, Michael (2000) The Official Dictionary of Poker. MGI/Mike Caro University. →ISBN
• (faggot, meatball): 1873, John Camden Hotten, The Slang Dictionary

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.

• dook, doock (Scotland)

duck (countable and uncountable, plural ducks)

2. A tightly-woven cotton or linen fabric, often used as sailcloth.

   Synonym: duckcloth

   Hypernyms: cloth, fabric, textile, material (fabric sense) < material (matter sense), matter, stuff

   Coordinate terms: waxed cotton, cotton wax, tarpaulin

   Near-synonym: sailduck

   • 1912, Katherine Mansfield, “The Woman At The Store”, in Selected Short Stories:

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

3. (in the plural) Trousers made of such material.
   • 1918 March, Rebecca West [pseudonym; Cicily Isabel Fairfield], chapter III, in The Return of the Soldier, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., published 1918, →OCLC, pages 67–68:

     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.

   • 1954, Doris Lessing, A Proper Marriage, HarperPerennial, published 1995, page 74:

     A native servant emerged, anonymous in his white ducks and red fez, to say My Player was wanted on the telephone.

• deech

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”).

duck (plural ducks)

1. A term of endearment; pet; darling.
   • 1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 75, column 2:

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

   • 1992, David Nunan, “[Interaction analysis] Questions and tasks”, in Research Methods in Language Learning (Cambridge Language Teaching Library), Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 178:

     M[other]: […] [W]e have your name on the bottom. What’s that say? R[ebecca]: P-A-me. M: P-A-me. Ha! (Yeah) That says B-E-C-C-A Becca. You’re a funny duck.

2. An affectionate (sometimes slightly patronising or jocular) term for a person, often (in collocations old duck and dear old duck) an elderly woman.
   • 1960, J. E. Macdonnell, Don't Gimme the Ships, Melbourne: Horwitz Publications, page 143:

     Even if this dear old duck didn’t take off before the real fun began, she would be going to beddy-byes any time from now.

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

   Ay up duck, ow'a'tha?

• See Thesaurus:friend

• ay up me duck
• duckie
• ducks

• “duck”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• Birks, Steve (26 January 2005), “The history of the Potteries dialect”, in BBC‎^[8], archived from the original on 20 July 2026

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

duck (third-person singular simple present ducks, present participle ducking, simple past and past participle ducked)

1. (transitive) To surreptitiously leave a rubber duck on someone's parked Jeep as an act of kindness (see Jeep ducking).
   • 2020 July 29, Susannah Sudborough, “It may sound quacky, but Jeep ducking is a real thing and it's right here in Taunton”, in Taunton Daily Gazette‎^[9], Taunton, Massachusetts, archived from the original on 3 April 2025:

     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.

   • 2022 September 13, Breana Noble, “'World's largest rubber duck' at Detroit auto show celebrates Jeep 'ducking' movement”, in The Detroit News‎^[10], archived from the original on 15 August 2026:

     She didn't even notice the duck on her vehicles when she first was ducked in spring.

   • 2022 September 13, Breana Noble, “'World's largest rubber duck' at Detroit auto show celebrates Jeep 'ducking' movement”, in The Detroit News‎^[11], archived from the original on 24 September 2022:

     She's gone out ducking with friends and family on shopping trips, in hospital parking lots and at Bishop International Airport in Flint, handing out more than 100 of the quackers.

• ducking

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊk

duck

1. singular imperative of ducken

duck

1. alternative form of duk (“duke”)