to duck
- verb
- /dʌk/
- She ducked her hands into the cool water to wash them.
Examples
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The kids ducked into the pool to cool off from the heat.
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He ducked his body quickly under the water to escape the splash.
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So I duck into this bar.
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So I just thought I'd duck in there.
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I'll just duck into the closet.
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I'll duck into the kitchen and see what's happened to Edward and the coffee.
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You duck into Papa's classroom.
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He ducked into this house.
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Again, I began to choke and almost panic, but we ducked into a driveway.
Academic text (2001) -
Another morning it was drizzling, so we ducked into a nearby trattoria for breakfast.
Academic text (2001)
Synonyms
To put something quickly into a liquid and take it out again
To dip something quickly into a liquid, often food
To put something briefly into a liquid
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
A water bird like a mallard that lives in lakes and rivers and is not kept by people
- Australian
A mammal from Australia that lays eggs and has a duck-like bill and webbed feet
A large wild North American duck with a sloping profile and red head prized by hunters for its meat
- Archaic
A pink sparkling wine that people make by mixing red and white wines and serve cold
A large sea duck from northern coasts whose female gives soft down used in quilts and pillows
- Jargon
A habit of preferring the first way you learn and resisting later changes
- US
A diving duck from North America with a blue-grey bill that lives in lakes and near the sea
How Deep
Surface Forms
Etymology
Duck meaning 'to dip quickly into liquid' is like the bird that puts its head into water, so to duck something is to push it into liquid and take it out again.