Duck Meaning
/dʌk/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Definition
verbTo quickly lower (the head or body), often in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
verbTo lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
Sentence Examples
Synonyms & Antonyms
Word Origin & History
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”). Cognates Related to Scots dulk (“to duck”), Middle Dutch ducken (“to duck”), Low German ducken (“to duck”), German ducken (“to duck”), Danish dukke, dykke (“to dive”). Related also to Scots dook, douk (“to bathe, drench, soak, baptise”), West Frisian dûke (“to plunge, dive”), Dutch duiken (“to dive, plunge, duck”), Low German duken (“to duck, dive, stoop”), German tauchen (“to dive, plunge, immerse, duck”), Swedish dyka (“to dive, submerge”).