duck
/dʌk/ noun C2- 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.
- Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.
- The flesh of a duck used as food.
- A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (Short for duck's egg.)
- A playing card with the rank of two.
- A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
- A cairn used to mark a trail.
- One of the weights used to hold a spline in place for the purpose of drawing a curve.
Plural ducks
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
Sometimes he weeps bitterly, sometimes laughs boisterously, at other time he passes hours on the seashore, flinging stones in the water and when the flint makes ‘duck-and-drake’ five or six times, he appears as delighted as if he had gained another Marengo or Austerlitz.
They were standing on the bank of the pond, below Orchard Slope, where a little headland fringed with birches ran out from the bank; at its tip was a small wooden platform built out into the water for the convenience of fishermen and duck hunters.
Barry kept for duck shooting.
It was high time to go, for the pool was getting quite crowded with the birds and animals that had fallen into it: there were a Duck and a Dodo, a Lory and an Eaglet, and several other curious creatures.
Other matches
- duck To quickly lower A2
- duck A cave passage containing water with low, or no... A2
- duck To surreptitiously leave a rubber duck on someo... C2
- duck A term of endearment C2
- duck A tightly-woven cotton or linen fabric, often u... C2
- duck down To crouch in order to hide or protect oneself.
- duck off To lie low
- duck out To depart quickly or exit abruptly, especially ...
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