duck

1. 1.

   to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away

   “Before he could duck, another stone struck him”

   Broadermove
2. 2.

   submerge or plunge suddenly

   Broaderdive
3. 3.

   dip into a liquid

   “He dipped into the pool”

   Synonymsdipdouse

   Broaderdunk
4. 4.

   avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)

   “He dodged the issue”

   “she skirted the problem”

   “They tend to evade their responsibilities”

   “he evaded the questions skillfully”

   Synonymshedgefudgeevadeput offcircumventparryeludeskirtdodgesidestep

Other forms of duck

plural

ducks·

past tense

ducked·

present participle

ducking·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about duck

What does duck mean?

duck means "small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs". That is the primary sense; the word has 8 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in duck?

duck has 1 syllable: duck. In IPA it is /ˈdʌk/.

What is another word for duck?

Close synonyms include duck's egg, dip, douse, hedge, fudge. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is duck a common word?

duck is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.