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Entry 10 senses · 5 variants Webster, 1913

Duck

/(dŭk)/ · IPA /dʌk/
01 n. A pet; a darling.
  1. 1.
    A pet; a darling.
02 n. A linen (or sometimes cotton) fabric, finer and lighter than canvas, -- used for the lighter sails of vessels, the sacking of beds, and som…
  1. 1.
    A linen (or sometimes cotton) fabric, finer and lighter than canvas, -- used for the lighter sails of vessels, the sacking of beds, and sometimes for men's clothing.
  2. 2.
    The light clothes worn by sailors in hot climates.(Naut.) [Colloq.]
03 v. t. To thrust or plunge under water or other liquid and suddenly withdraw.
imp. & p. p. Ducked; p. pr. & vb. n. Ducking
  1. 1.
    To thrust or plunge under water or other liquid and suddenly withdraw.
    “Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub.” — Fielding.
  2. 2.
    To plunge the head of under water, immediately withdrawing it; as, duck the boy.
  3. 3.
    To bow; to bob down; to move quickly with a downward motion.
04 v. i. To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to dive; to plunge the head in water or other liquid; to dip.
  1. 1.
    To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to dive; to plunge the head in water or other liquid; to dip.
    “In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day.” — Dryden.
  2. 2.
    To drop the head or person suddenly; to bow.
    “The learned pate Ducks to the golden fool.” — Shak.
05 n. Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.
  1. 1.
    Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.(Zool.)
  2. 2.
    A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water.
    “Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod.” — Milton.
Phrases & compounds
Bombay duck — a fish. See Bummalo.
Buffel duck — See Buffel duck.
Duck ant — a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees.
Duck barnacle — See Goose barnacle.
Duck hawk — In the United States: The peregrine falcon.
Duck mole — a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; -- called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole.
To make ducks and drakes — to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets<-- = skipping stones -->
To play at ducks and drakes — to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably.
Lame duck — See under Lame.