In the 16th century, Turkish women could divorce their husbands if the man failed to keep his family’s pot filled with coffee.
DUCK
duck
(noun) small wild or domesticated web-footed broad-billed swimming bird usually having a depressed body and short legs
duck
(noun) a heavy cotton fabric of plain weave; used for clothing and tents
duck
(noun) flesh of a duck (domestic or wild)
duck, duck's egg
(noun) (cricket) a score of nothing by a batsman
hedge, fudge, evade, put off, circumvent, parry, elude, skirt, dodge, duck, sidestep
(verb) 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”
duck
(verb) to move (the head or body) quickly downwards or away; “Before he could duck, another stone struck him”
duck
(verb) submerge or plunge suddenly
dip, douse, duck
(verb) dip into a liquid; “He dipped into the pool”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
duck (third-person singular simple present ducks, present participle ducking, simple past and past participle ducked)
(intransitive) To quickly lower the head or body in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
(transitive) To quickly lower (the head) in order to prevent it from being struck by something.
(transitive) To lower (something) into water; to thrust or plunge under liquid and suddenly withdraw.
(intransitive) To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to plunge one's head into water or other liquid.
(intransitive) To bow.
(transitive) To evade doing something.
(transitive) To lower the volume of (a sound) so that other sounds in the mix can be heard more clearly.
(intransitive) To enter a place for a short moment.
Synonyms
• (to lower the head): duck down
• (to lower into the water): dip, dunk
• (to lower in order to prevent it from being struck by something): dip
Coordinate terms
• (to lower the head or body to prevent it from being struck): hit the deck
Etymology 2
Noun
duck (countable and uncountable, plural ducks)
An aquatic bird of the family Anatidae, having a flat bill and webbed feet.
Specifically, an adult female duck; contrasted with drake and with duckling.
(uncountable) The flesh of a duck used as food.
(cricket) A batsman's score of zero after getting out. (short for duck's egg, since the digit "0" is round like an egg.)
(slang) A playing card with the rank of two.
A partly-flooded cave passage with limited air space.
A building intentionally constructed in the shape of an everyday object to which it is related.
A marble to be shot at with another marble (the shooter) in children's games.
(US) 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.
(finance, slang, dated) synonym of lame duck
(medicine) A long-necked medical urinal for men.
Hyponyms
• (bird): Anas platyrhynchos (domesticus), Mallard-derived domestic breeds, including Pekin, Rouen, Campbell, Call, Runner; Cairina moschata, Muscovy duck
Etymology 3
Noun
duck (plural ducks)
A tightly-woven cotton fabric used as sailcloth.
(in plural) Trousers made of such material.
Etymology 4
Noun
duck (plural ducks)
A term of endearment; pet; darling.
(Midlands) Dear, mate (informal way of addressing a friend or stranger).
Synonyms
• See friend
Etymology
Proper noun
Duck
A surname.
A town in North Carolina.
An unincorporated community in West Virginia.
Source: Wiktionary
Duck, n. Etym: [Cf. Dan. dukke, Sw. docka, OHG. doccha, G. docke. Cf. Doxy.]
Definition: A pet; a darling. Shak.
Duck, n. Etym: [D. doek cloth, canvas, or Icel. d cloth; akin to OHG. tuoh, G. tuch, Sw. duk, Dan. dug.]
1. A linen (or sometimes cotton) fabric, finer and lighter than canvas, -- used for the lighter sails of vessels, the sacking of beds, and sometimes for men's clothing.
2. (Naut.) pl.
Definition: The light clothes worn by sailors in hot climates. [Colloq.]
Duck, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Ducked; p. pr. & vb. n. Ducking.] Etym: [OE. duken, douken, to dive; akin to D. duiken, OHG. t, MHG. tucken, tĂĽcken, t, G. tuchen. Cf. 5th Duck.]
1. To thrust or plunge under water or other liquid and suddenly withdraw. Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leaped out of the tub. Fielding.
2. To plunge the head of under water, immediately withdrawing it; as, duck the boy.
3. To bow; to bob down; to move quickly with a downward motion. " Will duck his head aside. Swift.
Duck, v. i.
1. To go under the surface of water and immediately reappear; to dive; to plunge the head in water or other liquid; to dip. In Tiber ducking thrice by break of day. Dryden.
2. To drop the head or person suddenly; to bow. The learned pate Ducks to the golden fool. Shak.
Duck, n. Etym: [OE. duke, doke. See Duck, v. t. ]
1. (Zool.)
Definition: Any bird of the subfamily Anatinæ, family Anatidæ.
Note: The genera and species are numerous. They are divided into river ducks and sea ducks. Among the former are the common domestic duck (Anas boschas); the wood duck (Aix sponsa); the beautiful mandarin duck of China (Dendronessa galeriliculata); the Muscovy duck, originally of South America (Cairina moschata). Among the sea ducks are the eider, canvasback, scoter, etc.
2. A sudden inclination of the bead or dropping of the person, resembling the motion of a duck in water. Here be, without duck or nod, Other trippings to be trod. Milton. Bombay duck (Zoöl.), a fish. See Bummalo.
– Buffel duck, or Spirit duck. See Buffel duck.
– Duck ant (Zoöl.), a species of white ant in Jamaica which builds large nests in trees.
– Duck barnacle. (Zoöl.) See Goose barnacle.
– Duck hawk. (Zoöl.) (a) In the United States: The peregrine falcon. (b) In England: The marsh harrier or moor buzzard.
– Duck mole (Zoöl.), a small aquatic mammal of Australia, having webbed feet and a bill resembling that of a duck (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). It belongs the subclass Monotremata and is remarkable for laying eggs like a bird or reptile; -- called also duckbill, platypus, mallangong, mullingong, tambreet, and water mole.
– To make ducks and drakes, to throw a flat stone obliquely, so as to make it rebound repeatedly from the surface of the water, raising a succession of jets; hence: To play at ducks and drakes, with property, to throw it away heedlessly or squander it foolishly and unprofitably.
– Lame duck. See under Lame.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Word of the Day
22 November 2024
SHEET
(noun) (nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind
Coffee Trivia
