DUCKING
submersion, immersion, ducking, dousing
(noun) the act of wetting something by submerging it
ducking, duck hunting
(noun) hunting ducks
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology 1
Verb
ducking
present participle of duck
Noun
ducking (countable and uncountable, plural duckings)
(uncountable) The action of the verb to duck.
(countable) An instance of ducking (a person in water, etc).
Etymology 2
Chosen for the rhyme.
Adjective
ducking (not comparable)
(slang, euphemism) fucking (as intensifier)
Source: Wiktionary
Duck"ing, n. & a.
Definition: , from Duck, v. t. & i. Ducking stool, a stool or chair in
which common scolds were formerly tied, and plunged into water, as a
punishment. See Cucking stool. The practice of ducking began in the
latter part of the 15th century, and prevailed until the early part
of the 18th, and occasionally as late as the 19th century.
Blackstone. Chambers.
DUCK
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,
tücken, 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