duck

duck1 [ dʌk ] noun **

1. ) count a water bird with short legs, WEBBED feet (=with skin between the toes), and a large flat beak

a ) a female duck. The male is called a drake.

b ) uncount the meat of a duck:

roast duck

c ) only before noun relating to ducks:

duck feathers

2. ) duck or ducks count BRITISH SPOKEN used for talking to someone you like:

How are you, duck?

break the duck

to be successful again after a series of failures

get (all) your ducks in a row

to prepare something carefully so that you make no mistakes

take to something like a duck to water

to learn a new activity very easily, as if you have been doing it for a very long time

=> WATER1

duck

duck 2 [ dʌk ] verb *

1. ) intransitive or transitive to lower your head or head and body quickly, in order to move under something or to avoid being hit:

Young children can just duck under the gate and avoid paying.

He ducked the punch and came up swinging.

2. ) transitive to force someone's head under water for a short time, often in rough play

3. ) transitive to avoid something such as a difficult question, issue, or duty:

Stop trying to duck the issue who paid you for this?

4. ) intransitive to move quickly into or behind something, especially to avoid being seen:

He ducked behind the wall.

a ) to go quickly into a place for a specific purpose:

Judith ducked under a store awning to get out of the rain.

,duck `out phrasal verb intransitive

to leave a place, especially in a way that is not noticed by other people:

She ducked out for a smoke.

,duck `out of phrasal verb transitive

to avoid doing something that you were intending to do or promised to do